With mobile web use predicted to outstrip desktop browsing by 2015¹, having a mobile-optimized website is a necessity for e-commerce retailers.

Alibris needed to keep up with its customers and expand its e-commerce presence beyond the desktop and onto mobile devices to reach the 205-million smartphone subscribers in the United States alone².

Alibris recognized and acted to capitalize on a huge growth opportunity.

Prior to being optimized for mobile Alibris.com saw high bounce rates and low conversion rates.

Since every mobile user is a potential customer, Alibris was looking for a way to transfer the experience, features, and usability provided by its already established desktop website to mobile.

“ “A Mobify optimized site provides our users a great mobile experience without leaving Alibris. We’re doing it for the convenience of our mobile shoppers and our network of 20,000 independent sellers.” Alibris’s General Manager, Jeanie Bunker

Partnering with Mobify, Alibris was able to optimize its existing look and feel for a broad range of mobile devices. By leveraging the Mobify platform, Alibris also streamlined its key features and content, resulting in greater usability.

Content and features are prioritized for mobile operating systems, including Apple’s iOS, Android, and Palm’s WebOS. This resulted in a reduction of load times by over 75% for those using a 3G data connection.

The Mobify Enterprise solution uses HTML5 to optimize Alibris’s checkout on the fly. All mobile content instantly and automatically reflects the newest information on the desktop site.

Mobify took the Alibris mobile site from concept to launch in only three weeks, allowing Alibris to introduce its mobile site before the all-important Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday sales period.

Mobile traffic has been growing rapidly since launching and more importantly, Alibris’s mobile users are now more satisfied. This has translated into lower bounce, improved conversion rates, and a vastly enhanced mobile shopping experience.

In fact, due to greatly increased mobile traffic, Alibris is on track to recoup its mobile setup costs in months. Within the same time period, mobile store purchases more than doubled.

There were many benefits to partnering with Mobify. Alibris did not have to invest in any additional IT resources. Shoppers never have to leave the site to a different hosted mobile site, thus avoiding potential security issues with third party servers. This also allows for efficient SEO, as well as social media compatibility, due to links never breaking, no matter what device they are viewed on.

Alibris's mobile site targets the hottest, fastest growing market mobile shoppers, including the all important younger demographic, particularly students. Customers are now able to view the mobile-optimized Alibris website, accessing all of the features of the desktop site, bringing Alibris to the cutting edge of the mobile scene.