What can the gap between mobile and desktop teach about an e-commerce store?

Reading conversion rates by device, and what the gap says about the buying experience and budget allocation.

In most e-commerce stores most traffic comes from the phone, and the conversion rate on the phone is lower than on desktop. The gap itself is expected. What is interesting is its size, because it shows where the store is losing purchases.

A reasonable gap and a gap that signals a problem

Part of the gap comes from behaviour: people browse on the phone and complete the purchase on desktop. That part is not a fault. But when desktop conversion is three times higher or more, there is usually something in the mobile experience that stops the customer.

Where to look

• Load speed. Every extra second on the phone costs visitors who leave before seeing a product.
• The product page. Whether the price, images and add-to-cart button are visible without scrolling.
• Checkout. The number of fields, fast payment options, and whether the right keyboard opens for each field.
• Pop-ups. What is reasonable on desktop covers the whole screen on the phone.

The effect on advertising

Most social advertising budget reaches mobile. If the site converts poorly there, every campaign will look more expensive than it really is. Improving the mobile experience improves the results of all channels at once, without touching the budget.