You spent hours perfecting your website. It looks beautiful on your laptop. Clean layout, gorgeous images, compelling descriptions.
But here's what most shop owners don't realize: over 70% of your visitors are shopping on their phones.
And if your product pages aren't mobile-friendly, you're hurting sales without even knowing it.
Let me show you how to fix this before you lose another customer.
The mobile shopping reality
Think about your own browsing behavior. When was the last time you browsed a shop on your phone?
You're scrolling through Instagram, you see a product you love, you click through... and the website is… clunky. Images don't load properly. Text is tiny. The "Add to Cart" button is buried somewhere far below in a colour that blends in with everything else.
What do you do? You leave.
You don't think "Oh, let me remember to check this on my laptop later." You just move on.
That's exactly what's happening on your site right now.
The 3-second rule
On mobile, you have about 3 seconds to make an impression before someone leaves.
If your page takes ages to load? Gone.
If they can't immediately see what you're selling? Gone.
If anything feels frustrating? Gone.
Mobile shoppers are an impatient bunch.
The 5 mobile mistakes killing your conversions
1. Slow loading times
This is the #1 conversion killer on mobile.
If your page takes 5, 6, 7 seconds to load, most people won't stick around. They'll exit before they see your product.
Quick fixes:
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Compress your images (use tools like TinyPNG for WordPress websites or Shopify's built-in image optimisation)
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Remove unnecessary apps and plugins
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Check your page speed at PageSpeed Insights
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Aim for under 3 seconds load time
2. Tiny, unreadable text
What looks perfectly fine on desktop often becomes squint-inducing on mobile.
The fix:
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Body text should be at least 16px
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Headlines need to be significantly larger
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Add proper spacing between paragraphs
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Break up long blocks of text
Remember: if someone has to pinch-to-zoom to read your product description, you've already lost them.
3. Hidden or hard-to-find "Add to Cart" buttons
Your Add to Cart button is the most important element on the page. On mobile, it should be:
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Large enough to tap easily
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Above the fold or sticky at the bottom so it's always visible
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High-contrast color that stands out from everything else
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Clear language ("Add to Cart" not "Let's Shop Together")
4. Difficult-to-use product variants
Selecting size, color, or quantity should be effortless on mobile.
Common problems:
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Dropdown menus too small to tap accurately
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No clear indication of what's selected
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Variants displayed in a confusing layout
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Having to scroll too much to see all options
The fix:
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Use large, tappable buttons for variants when possible
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Show clear visual feedback for what's selected
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Keep variant selectors near the top of the page
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Test it yourself—can you easily select what you want with your thumb?
5. Images that don't work on small screens
Your beautiful product photography might be getting ruined on mobile.
Check for:
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Images cut off or cropped awkwardly
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Gallery that's hard to swipe through
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Photos too large, causing slow loading
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No pinch-to-zoom for detail shots
The mobile optimisation checklist
Test your product pages on your actual phone right now:
Loading & Performance:
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[ ] Page loads in under 3 seconds
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[ ] Images appear quickly, no awkward loading
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[ ] Scrolling is smooth, not laggy
Readability:
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[ ] Text is large enough to read comfortably
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[ ] No long, dense paragraphs
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[ ] Proper spacing between elements
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[ ] Headings clearly distinguish sections
Navigation:
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[ ] Product images easy to swipe through
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[ ] All buttons large enough to tap easily
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[ ] No accidental clicks on wrong elements
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[ ] Smooth scrolling experience
Conversion Elements:
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[ ] Add to Cart button prominent and easy to tap
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[ ] Price clearly visible
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[ ] Variants easy to select
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[ ] Shipping info easy to find
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[ ] No surprises at checkout
Visual Presentation:
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[ ] Images sized appropriately for screen
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[ ] No distorted or stretched photos
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[ ] Layout doesn't feel cramped
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[ ] Everything displays correctly in portrait mode
The simple mobile test
Here's what I tell all my clients:
Open your product page on your phone. Try to buy something. Time yourself.
If it takes longer than 30 seconds from landing on the page to adding to cart, something's wrong.
Even better: ask a friend or family member to do it. Watch them struggle (or not struggle). Their frustration points are your action items.
Start with your bestseller
You don't need to fix your entire site today.
Start with your bestselling product. Open it on your phone. Test the experience. Fix what's broken.
Then move to the next product.
Small improvements, made consistently, create real results.
Most Shopify themes are mobile-responsive. But that doesn't mean they're mobile-optimised.
Responsive means the layout adjusts to different screen sizes. Great.
But optimised means it's actually designed to convert on mobile. That's different.
It means:
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Strategic placement of conversion elements
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Fast loading speeds
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Easy navigation and selection
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Clear, scannable information hierarchy
Don't assume your theme does this automatically. Test it yourself.
Ready to optimise your entire product page strategy?
Mobile optimisation is essential, but it's just one piece of building product pages that actually convert.
Want to know what else your pages need to turn browsers into buyers?
Download my free Product Page Essentials Guide and get:
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The complete checklist for high-converting product pages
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Image requirements that build trust and reduce returns
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Product description formulas that actually sell
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Trust signals that ease customer hesitation
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Real before/after examples from successful stores
Now available as an ebook pdf and audiobook. Get the free guide here or sign up below.
Meg Hodson is the founder of Nutmeg Studio, a Shopify web design and strategy studio based in Cape Town. Since 2015, she's helped 40+ product-based businesses create online stores that convert beautifully on every device—desktop, tablet, and mobile.
