Making a mobile ecommerce site easy to use is one way of encouraging customers to make purchases from their mobile devices, it has been suggested.

According to Amy Adams Harding of Google's Retail Team, designing a user experience that is comparable to that of a regular website will help to attract visitors. She noted that developing a specific app for platforms such as the iPhone or Android is not necessary provided companies can produce a landing page that works on all devices. 

"Easy navigation is critical. If the user is confused or frustrated, they are gone," she explained. Ms Harding added that information such as login data, card numbers and delivery address should also be easily available just as it is when shopping from a computer to make sure the experience is as "seamless" as possible.

Finally, she advised ecommerce firms to use analytics software, such as Google's own offering, to find and address areas within the mobile site that need working on, as doing this can improve abandonment rates. In related news, figures released last month by eMarketer showed that almost three-quarters (72.5 per cent) of internet users aged 14 and over will buy something online during 2009.