Mobile Sales Jump 53% Thanks to GourmetGiftBaskets.com's New Responsive Web Design

    KINGSTON, NH, February 18, 2016 /24-7PressRelease/ -- GourmetGiftBaskets.com, a fast-growing, $20 million company, has maximized the customer experience for the ever-expanding base of consumers making online purchases via mobile devices.

The 14-year-old, family-owned company implemented an entirely new e-commerce platform while creating a new website using responsive design. During December 2015, GourmetGiftBaskets.com yielded a year-over-year (YOY) boost of 53% in sales conversion rates from mobile devices - a hugely successful test run of this new technology.

Not only did the conversion rates on mobile devices increase significantly, but conversion rates from desktop computers were lifted by 20% YOY, as well.

"We expected increases of 25 to 30% in mobile conversion rates, and maybe 10% in desktop conversions, but the results on both fronts were much stronger than we had hoped," said GourmetGiftBaskets.com's Vice President of Marketing and Sales Jason Bergeron. "These results confirmed that a year's worth of reformatting and redesign work was already paying off, which is even better news for 2016 and beyond."

The company has been tracking changes in customer purchasing behavior over the last year or two on all four of its sites: GourmetGiftBaskets.com, KingOfPOP.com, Cheesecake.com and Strawberries.com. The key finding was that traffic from mobile devices has risen dramatically.

"The landscape of users has changed so much, that we had to do more to ensure a great experience regardless of how customers were accessing our sites," said Bergeron. "So we created a responsive design that helps our sites adapt to any screen, functioning perfectly and looking consistently great on any device - smartphone, tablet, desktop, laptop - you name it. Page speed has also increased significantly, further boosting conversion rates."

Along with creating the new responsive design platform, the company decided to upgrade the entire look and feel of its sites. Based on significant consumer research, the enhanced appearance of the sites integrates new layouts, fonts, shopping options, and fresh, more inviting color palettes.

Bergeron added that both the platform and visual redesigns help with the company's recognition and branding, so that anyone who accesses one of the sites from a desktop computer will know that it's the same exact site they found on their favorite mobile device. In contrast, sites without responsive design technology often look much different on a mobile device and can be more challenging to navigate, as well.

GourmetGiftBaskets.com and its sister sites went through a major visual redesign in 2013, but this marks the first time in 10 years that the company tackled a complete re-platform of their e-commerce and ERP systems.

While the look of the sites will continue to be updated every two years or so, the e-commerce platform will remain the same, largely because it will be able to adapt to new versions of smartphones, tablets, desktops and laptops for the foreseeable future.

Media Contact: For more information on GourmetGiftBaskets.com or its sister sites, the company's new responsive design technology, or the hundreds of product options offered for discerning gift givers, please contact Chuck Casto of Casto Marketing Communications at [email protected] or 508-314-3284.

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