Quick question: have you ever tried to buy something on your phone, waited ages for a page to load, and just given up? Your customers do that every day. So before the Black Friday and December rush hits, take a few minutes to view your site on mobile the way your shoppers do, and make sure your website development is ready for peak season. Better yet, grab your phone right now and try it. You might be surprised by what you find.
Start With the Basics: Open It on Your Phone
Sit on the couch, pull up your website on your phone, and try to do one thing: buy a product. Note every moment you squint, pinch, scroll sideways, or sigh. Those little annoyances are sales walking out the door.
Pay attention to:
- Buttons that are too small to tap with a thumb
- Text that’s hard to read without zooming
- Pop-ups that cover the whole screen
- Menus that feel like a maze
Speed Checks That Actually Matter
Test Your Load Times
Shoppers on a busy Friday won’t wait around. Run your homepage and a product page through Google PageSpeed Insights and look at the mobile score. If it’s sluggish, the usual culprits are oversized images, too many plugins, and heavy themes.
Compress Your Images
Large product photos are the most common reason SA mobile sites crawl. Resize and compress images before the rush, not during it.
Clean Up Your Plugins
Every plugin adds weight. Delete the ones you don’t use and update the ones you keep. Outdated plugins also make great entry points for trouble, and nobody wants a security scare on their biggest sales week.
Checkout Needs a Full Dress Rehearsal
Test Every Payment Method
Run a real test order using each payment option you offer, including cards, EFT, and any instant payment or buy-now-pay-later options. Then confirm the confirmation emails actually arrive.
Make Checkout Short and Sweet
Ask for only what you need. Every extra form field is another reason for a shopper to abandon their cart. Guest checkout helps too, because not everyone wants to create an account just to buy a blanket.
Check Stock and Shipping Info
Nothing kills goodwill faster than a “buy now” button that leads to an “out of stock” message. Double-check inventory sync, delivery timelines, and shipping costs are visible before checkout.
Don’t Forget the Stuff Behind the Scenes
- Backups: Take a full backup and confirm you can restore it
- Hosting capacity: Ask your host whether your plan can handle a traffic spike
- SSL certificate: Make sure your site is still showing that padlock
- Forms and contact details: Test every form and make sure messages reach the right inbox
Let Us Take the Stress Off
Sorting all of this during the busiest season of the year is a recipe for frazzled nerves. At Digital Briefcase, we help South African businesses get their ecommerce websites and mobile-friendly sites ready for peak trading, from speed audits to checkout testing and SEO tune-ups.
Don’t wait until the Black Friday rush. Book a website health check and we’ll help you catch problems before your customers do. Your future self (and your bank balance) will thank you.