Mobile site? Mobile site or mobile app?

Question

Mobile Internet

Hello.
I have such a problem. There is an online store but it is not optimized for mobile devices.
Please tell me which one is better?
1. A separate mobile version of the site, for example, m.site.ru i.e. users who logged in from mobile devices will see only the mobile version of the site
2. Create a full-fledged site that will be adaptive for both PC and mobile devices i.e. cross-platform
3. Create a mobile application
What can you advise me? Has anyone encountered such a problem?

Answer 1

There is no need for a mobile app. Because:
1. No one will install a mobile app to make a one-time purchase. A mobile application makes sense only for regular customers, but there are almost no advantages compared to the browser version, and there are enough disadvantages.
2. It is more convenient to make purchases in the browser: you can open several tabs with different products; you can share the link, save the page, or bookmark the page. To implement these same functions in your application, you will have to spend a lot of effort (money), and in the browser all this is available for free.
You should not focus on the statistics of a site that is not optimized for mobile phones in order to make a decision about creating a mobile version of the same site. People don't walk and buy on mobile because the site isn't optimized.
An example from our practice:
Before the redesign, there was only a desktop version of the site. According to the statistics of mobile users, there were 12%.
We made an adaptive version - mobile users became 60%!
Now we are redesigning all design processes from “mobile last” to “mobile first”.
In your case, I recommend making an adaptive website. The cheapest option: add styles to the existing version to make a multi-column site single-column. Let the first version be not perfect and even clumsy, but you will see if the number of visits and purchases from a mobile phone will grow. If there is growth, it makes sense to invest in the correct adaptive version of the site.

Answer 2

Start with media queries for styles, see how it works on different devices. View user statistics, how many come from mobile devices and whether they buy.
Depends on the type of store, including - if clothes or something else that is often bought, then it makes sense to make a mobile application. If the store is focused on one-time purchases, then it is unlikely that anyone will install a separate washing application.