Do you think about mobile?

[TheWonderfulKiki]

Hi Sellers,

Many of us have smartphones and how we use these handy devices, both for business and everyday life, is only growing over time. To help you optimize your shop for buyers on the go, the Seller Education team is developing new education about mobile.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on the following so we can provide you with the most relevant mobile education:

-Do you actively think about how your shop and listings look on a smartphone? If so, how does it change what you do?
-Do you keep an eye on mobile traffic in your Shop Stats?
-What don’t you understand about making your shop mobile friendly that you’d like to learn more about?

Best,

Shadi

[MagpieQuilts]

Does it matter what your picture resolution is for mobile devices? I find I'm less patient for pages to load when I'm not using wifi.

With search on a cpu, we are always trying to get on the first few pages for our keywords - what is a good target for mobile apps and do they show up in the same order as on a cpu search?

[TiganiSoul]

I never really gave mobile a thought. My old, once upon a time, smart phone is useless when it comes to internet access. My tablet works great but I'm really still getting used to using it.

[Former_Member]

Yes we do watch to see if we get mobile views. We do try and think how our listings look, but this is hard to do when we can't see. It would be very hand to have a button in the listings (when editing) next to the preview button to 'Preview on Mobile' just so we can see what it looks like on a mobile to see if we need to edit anything. We have this on our blog its very handy to see before I publish anything.

Also with the viewings on mobiles (mainly the app) there seems to be quite a few of us having problems with customers not being able to see our descriptions clearly or being able to see how to look at the other pictures in the listing.
This forum thread here is were lots of members are airing their concerns
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7718/questions/discuss/15965394/page/1

[Former_Member]

I do keep track of etsy app views and have been recently changing my descriptions to work better when viewed in app form. I would not have thought to do this before though when by accident when waiting for the keyword online lab I saw a bit of the mobile lab:) I am still struggling with this though as in the best way to go about it. I also use my tablet to check my stats on the seller app, but pics are bigger there along with description space so I can't really compare to a smart phone. I love the idea from EatMe for a preview listing in mobile form, that would be very helpful option to have.

[Former_Member]

Great topic! I've looked at my shop on mobile, and I've noticed a few things. In no particular order.

Vertical images look great in the etsy app. The whole thing shows up large and beautiful. When viewed from etsy.com the same image gets cropped to horizontal. When you are in the etsy app and click on a vertical image from you search result it gets crop to a horizontal image, and if you click on it to zoom in you see the full vertical image again. I find this pretty confusing, is there any plan to make photos more uniform? Would using a square photo help?

The long titles titles, and full paragraph product description I use look really cluttered on the small screen of a mobile devise. I'm thinking of shortening everything. I'm worried that if I use less words in my titles then they will show up in less searches. Also I'm not really sure how to write an informative product description that when viewed on mobile doesn't look like it goes on for a mile.

I sell small clutches that are popular bridesmaids gifts. I have like 90 fabric patterns listed in my store and more on the way. I arrange my shop by color to make it easy for brides to find gifts. I want to mention this in my shop announcement so people know how to navigate my store, but the order is different when using etsy app (android version). They are in the correct order when viewed on etsy.com with a web browser on a mobile devise. Are there plans to change this?

I've also notice that if I search for the same thing using the etsy app, and a web browser I get different results. Could this have something to do with some images looking better on mobile devises then others. If so, what are the qualities of those images.

When the etsy app first launched I got the same traffic there as I did from etsy.com. Then there was a drop off in views from the app to the point where it is now, which brings in a lot less traffic to my store than etsy.com. What's up with that?

[seemomster]

I do take it into account. And for a good while, I kept my titles short. Just the facts, ma'am. BUT...my standing in Etsy search dropped. So back to long (if relevant) titles. Not sure what to do about that. At least my images look good (as best I can tell) on a mobile device!

[Pincapallina]

My store on my mobile looks different than on the laptop. I put items in different order yesterday but on the mobile they are still the same way.
Also some sold things don't have a sticker "sold"
Again, if you want to list a new item ,using a mobile, questions are different and it is more confusing to finish the listing.

[LauraWilsonGallery]

I put both the Etsy apps on my smartphone and every time I get a sale, it says "Ca Ching!" Like the old cash registers. I love it!
I check every time I get a sound, to see who has favorited me or whatever, so I don't have to constantly sign in to Outlook.
I have TMobile and have 3GB included per month that I haven't even begun to use up.

[Former_Member]

I check mobile version regularly. I need to check my shop on the phone app. Thanks for advice.

[TheNativeState]

I look at my stats regularly and to be honest have never looked at my mobile stats...I might not even know where to look. I do care about what it looks like on mobile as I know mobiles sales are on the up and up so I do take the time to 'think like a customer' and look around my own shop on mobile and desktop. I don't however make an active changes for mobiles as I'm happy with the appearance the app provides.

Its important that I only have to scroll down or up on a mobile. I want to be able to see everything straight away without having to move it to the left or right. Hope that makes sense. I like how the call to action (add to cart button) is near the top too.

I don't think there is anything I don't understand but I certainly can't think of anything of the top of my heard that I would know to do to make it mobile friendly so maybe I'm missing a trick. Would love to know more.

Have a great day.

[OurVintageBungalow]

I definitely keep the mobile in mind when I'm listing items since it's about 30% of where my traffic comes from. Really, the only thing I do right now though is to look at my shop on my phone and make sure the pictures show up correctly and that my shop info looks ok in that version. I have had to make a couple changes based on this, but it hasn't been too bad.

[Former_Member]

I don't like my shop with mobile viewing. I am sure it's why I've had such a large drop in sales. I have really just worked so hard to get my shop going that I am a bit exhausted to take more time to change it all. I'd love to have a program that takes my shop and changes it to look spectacular in mobile!

[expressyourself]

I agree with Glass Beach .

[kickglassenamels]

While all of my stuff is enameled, I carry a variety of items (ie switchplates, jewelry, knobs, etc). In my etsy.com shop, I've organized the first page so it acts as a display window. The etsy app shows up with everything in the order listed. In my case, this is a mish mosh of stuff, and doesn't make for a good shopping experience.Is there a way to organize the shop on the app? If not, can there be?

[Former_Member]

I am also wondering if there is a way to custom sort listings on the mobile app. I use this feature on the desktop version, but noticed my custom sort isn't applied to the mobile version.

[mooonart]

I downloaded the etsy sell app. for android from play store.Is it something different from the app that ets offering from etsy.com ?

Any idea?

[CharisGiftsofFaith]

I agree that having a button on the editing page that allows us to see what our listing will look like on a mobile device would be very helpful.

[FunandBaubles]

I use my mobile all the time, and I find it very annoying. I can't manage my shop in the mobile version, and I can't see titles, heart conveniently, or look through shops conveniently in the "web" version on my mobile. I tend to limit mobile usage to stats and teams, and buy and search on the computer when I can find time.

[isewcute]

I take into consideration that people are looking at my shop on a smaller screen, so I've worked on my photos to really make the items stand out. I love the cropping tool. The first photo should be a close-up so folks aren't straining to see the item.

[ArtWildflowersDigi]

I have no clue what my shop looks like? & no access to a smart phone, so if someone could have a look at my shop, & let me know how it looks on the phone app, I will return the favor by faving a page of your items.

& BTW - Just some quick info.. Admin stated in the forums that in the 2013 season, that 40% of all Christmas shopping was done with a mobile device... WOW! That's a whole lot!

[Former_Member]

I think mine looks good.

[AdobeHouseVintage]

I wish the mobile app kept the customized arrangement for my shop that I have on my laptop. Instead, items are displayed chronologically in the order they were listed. On my computer, I am able to rearrange listings to show variety, cohesiveness, etc. but none of that transfers to the mobile app.

And I definitely keep track of my mobile views. They are a huge percentage of my shop views. I do wish it was possible to know how many sales are coming through the app too.

[Former_Member]

Since I often shop via the Etsy app, I try to take crisp, closeup pictures of my items when posting. We're really new, so I get a little frustrated from posting from the Sell on Etsy app sometimes. I find it difficult to copy similar posts and edit it using updated descriptions and pictures. Usually I have to go into etsy.com from my web browser, make a "copy," then I edit using the Sell on Etsy app. Is this what you all do? Thanks in advance!

[PamsPawsJewelry]

I have no idea what some people have said here. Maybe give us some examples and exact instructions of what to do to make it better for mobile.

Maybe it depends on what phone people have as to how it looks. I see my shop on my iphone 5s and it looks nice, the pics, and sections.

I have no idea what others see or the descriptions.

I do wish you could access everything on the phone apps in my shop which I cannot even in the Etsy apps which limit you to what you can see.

I turned off all the sounds except the cha ching if someone buys. They were constant and annoying and also ran up my phone bill for data usage.

I can always check to see if someone convos me or faves something when I want to and not have annoying sounds every few seconds as I use my phone for work.

How would you for instance take good photos that will not get chopped off in the regular computer on Etsy and also look good on mobile?

Thanks,

Pam