Common Mistakes in Responsive Ecommerce Design

Over 50% of global web traffic is now generated from mobile devices. So make sure your website is optimized for mobile traffic. The most common issues I see on mobile sites from small businesses: 🎈Pop-Ups Yes, they can be helpful for asking for emails or promoting a deal, but all too often they are blocking navigation or impossible to exit out of on a phone. 🖼️ Images We’ve all see images that are stretched, cut-off, covering text. ⚖️ Element & Font Sizes So many times you’ll see buttons that become funny shaped and the text is half in the button, half overflowing. Or you are constantly zooming in on a site because the font is so small. So how can I help prevent these issues? ✅ Review your Google Analytics to get an understanding of how much of your traffic comes from mobile. ✅ Even with website builders that are auto responsive, review the site in both desktop and mobile form. ✅ Send the link to friends/colleagues who have other sizes and types of phones to review. (There are also websites that will show you on tons of screen sizes, but many of them cost $) ✅ Simple tends to be easier to make responsive, so if you aren’t hiring a web developer less is more in terms of the design of your site. ✅ Review regularly because things change and even small updates to your site can impact the mobile layout.

81% of ecommerce sites still fail at mobile UX in 2025 While performance has improved year over year, most sites still fall into the “mediocre” category. A few takeaways that stood out to me from a recent usability study I read: - Category overcategorization is still a mess. 75% of sites break product types with shared attributes into separate categories instead of using filters. It kills browseability. - Navigation still confuses users. 95% don’t highlight where the user is in the site hierarchy — a small fix that can greatly improve orientation. - Search isn’t smart enough. 58% can’t interpret abbreviations or symbols. If “3pc” doesn’t match “3-piece,” you’re making customers think too hard. -Visual context matters. 70% don’t offer 3+ product thumbnails in list views, and 63% don’t show social images on PDPs. That’s missed conversion. -Keyboard behavior is overlooked. Something as small as triggering the right keyboard type for phone or email fields can improve mobile conversion — yet 63% of sites don’t. If these problems resonate with you and you're looking for Inspo, check out Lowe's, American Eagle, Kate Spade and Williams Sonoma, B&H and Urban Outfitters! The example below is from Lowe's and is an excellent way to provide scope suggestions in search that are both visually distinct and aligned with actual product categories helping customers narrow their search. Source: Baymard #ecommerce #mobileux #uxdesign #digitalcommerce #onlineshopping #conversionrateoptimization #productdesign #cx #baymard #usabilitytesting #mobilefirst #retailtech #userexperience #uxresearch #mobilecommerce

Some UX mistakes aren’t advanced. They’re just persistent. Designers keep falling into the same traps—not because they’re careless, but because bad defaults look “normal.” → Designing for desktop first (even when 70% of traffic is mobile) → Using hero sliders that look great but convert terribly → Prioritizing visual polish over usable flow → Forgetting mobile nav until the handoff phase These aren’t dramatic fails. They’re slow bleeds. And they add up—confused users, bloated handoffs, broken funnels. These are 4 of the most common traps I still see (and what to do instead). Because before you worry about delight, you need to fix the defaults. Are there any you'd add to the list? 🤔 #uxdesign #webdesign ——— 👋 Hi, I’m Dane—I love sharing design tips + strategies. ❤️ Found this helpful? Dropping a like shows support. 🔄 Share to help others (& for easy access later). ➕ Follow for more like this in your feed every day.

My company Platter works with 100+ e-comm brands. The 2 most common mistakes they make? 1) Over-investing in desktop experiences: It's 2024, 70% percent of your traffic is probably coming through mobile. Don't waste your precious budget on desktop. Mobile users have different needs and behaviors, so you should adjust features and content layout accordingly if you want them to convert. This means optimizing navigation, simplifying the content hierarchy, and ensuring a smooth and intuitive experience on mobile. 2) Too many steps in the conversion funnel: Keeping things simple is a superpower. The best way to test if you're guilty of adding too many steps? 1. Find a 6-year-old and a 90-year-old 2. Give them access to your website 3. See where they drop off on the website How easy is it to actually land on a homepage and make a purchase? The more steps you have, the higher your drop off rate. Any other mistakes I missed?

Your mobile site is losing you money, and you don’t even realize it. Not because it’s slow... Not because it’s ugly... But because it’s annoying. Think about how people actually use their phones: 🤚 One hand, scrolling fast 👍 Tapping with their thumb 😤 Zero patience for friction Now look at your mobile site... ❌ Tiny buttons that are hard to tap ❌ Pop-ups that cover the whole screen with low visibility exit text or buttons ❌ Text that makes people squint ❌ Colors that clash and make it hard to read ❌ Experience that is busier than Times Square If your site feels like a struggle, they’re gone. The fix? ✅ Bigger buttons...easy to tap ✅ Make sure text is easy to read ✅ Simplify the color palette ✅ No clutter... just what they need, what you want them to do ✅ Enable one-click checkout like Shop Pay, Apple Pay, and Google Pay The brands winning on mobile aren’t just “responsive”... They’re frictionless. Your competition isn’t another brand. It’s the “Back” button... #ecommerce #shopify #mobile