Online shopping has grown immeasurably over the past decade, with almost £1.2 billion purchases being made online each week in the UK. While many of us are opting to use our mobiles to make buy online, desktop remains ever-present as a purchase platform. But when it comes to making large ecommerce purchases, which option is winning, desktop or mobile? Read on as we compare the two…
Are desktops safer?
According to Singapore-based ecommerce platform, ShopBack, more people are choosing to make large online purchases on a desktop rather than mobile due to their perceptions of safety. ShopBack found that 60% of their customers were beginning the browsing journey on mobile, before making the purchase on a desktop, because that’s where they feel safer making large transactions.
Think about it – when was the last time you booked a holiday from your phone? Or paid for a new flat screen TV on your mobile? Chances are, it doesn’t happen very often. People feel more secure opening a laptop or powering up a computer to spend their hard-earned money. But why?
Bigger screen = more information
ShopBack believe that their shoppers are using desktops to finalise transactions as the larger screen equates to more information and content to be displayed.
An average sized desktop can provide over 3 times as much information as a regular smartphone. So, users are turning to desktops when making larger purchases as they want more information, and can conduct more research, before parting with a large sum of money.
What does this mean for ecommerce?
Recently in the ecommerce world, the focus has mostly been on optimising mobile versions of websites for fast and effective use. Earlier this year, Google announced that they would be ranking sites based on their mobile version, ahead of the desktop version.
After hearing the news, many businesses went into panic mode, optimising and finalising mobile versions of their site to speed them up for better Google rankings. But desktop shouldn’t be put on the back burner just yet.
With over half of people, according to ShopBack, completing their purchases on desktop, a slow site simply won’t cut the mustard. Having identified their desired products on the mobile version of your ecommerce site, users migrating to desktop to finalise their transaction may be put off by a slow, unattractive site.
To put things simply, despite the advancements in mobile technology, there is still room in the industry for desktop and businesses shouldn’t neglect either platform in favour of the other. Mobile and desktop versions of your site must be optimised to the best of their ability, with a user-friendly shopping experience on both platforms.
Without this, you risk excluding a huge percentage of shoppers, whether that’s with a poor mobile experience or a slow desktop site.
Can we help?
A well-designed website can improve sales across both mobile and desktop. If the majority of shoppers are completing purchases on desktop sites, its important for them to look good and run effectively.
Fluid Digital are experts in creating fast, effective, user-friendly ecommerce sites for both desktop and mobile platforms. As a Magento Solution Partner, we offer the highest level of experience and creativity with our team of Magento Certified Developers and solution specialists.
With our award-winning ecommerce team, you can look forward to uniquely designed site, stand-out branding and a boost in traffic and sales.
Sound good? Get in touch with our friendly team to find out more.