Why B2B ecommerce sites should be optimized for mobile devices

In January 2023 there were 5.16billion internet users in the world; that’s approaching two-thirds of the population. Smartphones are used by nine out of 10 of us for online access, accounting for over 60% of internet traffic.

That makes the mobile phone critical for customer interactions, so you can’t afford to underestimate its importance to your business.

Many B2B companies provide very high quality online content, product descriptions and images, but they are optimized for desktop computers. Making sure your site is optimized for mobile devices is different.

Mobile web design must be responsive. Whatever size of screen, from a phone to a watch, tablet or desktop your content should be crystal clear. What’s more, Google mainly uses the mobile version of a site’s content for indexing and ranking, which it calls mobile-first indexing.

Checklist: Is your site optimized for mobile devices?

There are some simple things you can check to understand how your B2B ecommerce platform will perform on multiple devices.

• is your page loading speed fast? • does your text scale according to screen size for good legibility and accessibility? • are you prioritizing taps rather than clicks when users need to take action? • can your buyers find the information they’re looking for with two or three taps? • Is your checkout easy, with clear signposting?

If you answered ‘No’ to some or all of these questions your site probably isn’t optimized for mobile devices. Your customers could already be moving to sites that are easier to use.

How sites can be optimized for mobile devices

As more and more of your buyers research products and make purchases using their smartphones, mobile-first design is needed. Designers must optimize content for mobile and then scale up, rather than assuming site visitors are using a desktop PC.

Here are some of the top considerations:

Simplicity – responsive design means that every element on a page must work hard on different screen sizes. Tiny, unreadable text isn’t acceptable. Space and simplicity are needed to make it clear what each element on the page is for. Your search engine results will be affected if you have intrusive pop-up content on your site so this should be used sparingly.

Clarity – color, contrast and buttons designed to tap rather than click are essential. Forms must fit the screen and be easy to complete, so they should only capture minimum essential information.

Navigation – your main menu, pages, posts and links all need to be easy to use on small screens. You might not have room to include all the tabs and pages you have on your desktop site, so you’ll need powerful navigation tools. You’ll want to prioritize the most important pages on your site.

Speed – ideally, your pages should load in less than two seconds. You can improve loading times by optimizing your images and reducing the amount of content and code on your site. You can also consider using super-fast accelerated mobile pages.

Ease of use – every step your buyer takes to place their order should be as simple and intuitive as possible. Information at checkout should be concise, buttons easy to see, and forms easy to complete. Make sure shipping and returns information is clear, along with tax and stock availability information.

Quality content – high-quality content is important for search engines and will encourage buyers to stay when they visit your site. However dense content can be difficult to absorb when using a mobile device. Devoting time to getting the balance right will be worthwhile. High-quality images, enlargement tools, video, 3D graphics, and augmented reality can all make your content more engaging.

Marketing – for your mobile channels and email marketing use links to pages that are optimized for mobile devices.

Taps not clicks – many of your buyers will be using their thumbs to navigate sites on a smart phone. Make it easy for them to respond by placing your calls to action at the bottom of the screen. Provide a sidebar and use a sticky menu that doesn’t disappear when they scroll.

Channel switching – to win hearts and minds, make it easy to switch between mobile devices and other channels. Buyers should be able to complete their purchases using information they have already entered.

The benefits of B2B ecommerce sites optimized for mobile devices

Mobile responsive sites should be easy to use on all types of devices and a ‘less is more’ approach is a good discipline. Content will be crisp, legible and to the point. Functionality and calls to action will be clearly signposted. Paired-down content will also help to make sure pages load quickly.

Creating a single, responsive site is a cost-effective approach too. Creating separate sites for the desktop, smartphones, tablets and a range of other devices isn’t a good use of resources. You’ll ensure your site will be consistent across multiple devices, with a single URL.

Book a free Cloudfy demonstration to discover how your B2B ecommerce site can benefit from a mobile-first design.

As the global economy continues to struggle and businesses around the world are feeling the pressure of an uncertain future, it’s more important than ever before to find ways to save money and time. One of the best solutions is investing in a powerful B2B ecommerce web platform such as Cloudfy.

Cloudfy is designed to provide manufacturers and distributors with a simple, cost-effective solution that can help them reduce operating costs, streamline their processes and scale their business over time. With advanced features like real-time product search, rapid order fulfillment, inventory management and automated invoicing, Cloudfy offers powerful tools that can help businesses save time and money.

With over a decade of experience working with business-to-business (B2B) companies around the world, here are eleven steps recommended by the Cloudfy team.

1. Be customer-centric – the businesses most likely to succeed in difficult times are those that effectively explore and meet their customers’ needs. While focussing on pricing might seem like an obvious step, improving customer service and adding value are likely to help you build long-term brand loyalty.
2. Communicate effectively – a practical strategy to maintain your cashflow is to make sure you communicate regularly and consistently with your customers and stakeholders. There’s never been a better time to build up your first-party subscriptions list so you can provide valuable information to your customers.
3. Take search engine optimization seriously – as budgets are placed under increasing pressure your B2B buyers will be searching online for the best deals for their company. As well as paid-for online advertising you will need to make sure search engine optimization (SEO) for your B2B ecommerce site is a priority. If some of your competitors choose to cut back on their online marketing activity, you will benefit from being easily discoverable online.
4. Plan for growth – while simply surviving might appear to be imperative, things will eventually recover. Improving efficiency will help you to manage current pressures and prepare for the future. You can position your business for growth as financial pressures ease by taking advantage of opportunities to automate and streamline your business processes through business systems integration.
5. Improve productivity – your teams can do more when they are working well together, so consolidating data through business systems integration will also provide a single source of truth to make sure everyone can be productive. It allows you to avoid duplication and unnecessary manual data entry and, when combined with your B2B ecommerce platform, business systems integration will also streamline your sales processes and improve customer satisfaction.
6. Support your employees – when you give your team members the right tools for the job, you will send a clear message that you value them and what they do. Engage with them to find out what will make a difference, listen to their recommendations, and share your future plans so they can be confident you have things under control. As more transactions are completed online make sure your employees are correctly incentivized and recognized for their contributions.
7. Improve your order to cash process – making customer payments easy and efficient and automating your credit control processes will help protect your cashflow. Offering flexible payment options via your B2B ecommerce platform will make it easy for your customers to pay and keep track of their accounts.
8. Be agile – with each digital transaction you will collect a lot of useful information about your company finances and customer behavior. Rather than waiting to see what market trends and reports are telling you, collect and evaluate real time data about your customers’ purchases and preferences. You can use analytic tools to convert this into actionable insights for your production, marketing, sales and after sales teams. You can then respond quickly, effectively and confidently using data-based decision making.
9. Focus on customer retention – retaining your existing customers will be more cost-effective than searching for new customers during these challenging times. Look carefully at what your data tells you and introduce a customer loyalty program or update your existing one to add quality and value for your customers.
10. Collaborate – you can realize the benefits of scale when you collaborate with others including your suppliers and perhaps your competitors too. Online marketplaces can give you access to new audiences and locations, so explore opportunities to provide value-added complementary products and services.
11. Take the long-view – distinguish between short-term tactical activities and your longer-term strategy. You could, for example, buy inventory at a reduced price if one of your competitors is cutting back on their purchasing in the short-term. However, for the future you might want to become more efficient with an integrated inventory management system.

Take the first step today

Cloudfy B2B ecommerce software is designed to help simplify your manufacturing or distribution business to save you money and allow you to scale as your business grows.

With our extensive experience of B2B sales Cloudfy offers a comprehensive suite of powerful ecommerce tools as a cost-effective software as a service (SaaS) solution.

To find out more book a free Cloudfy demonstration.