• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, November 13, 2013

Are retailers genuinely ready for the expected onslaught of mobile site visitors this holiday? Not quite -- but they are learning, according to a ranking of the top 100 multichannel retailers in the U.S. The Search Agency has determined that uneven execution may still hamper mobile accessibility to users this holiday. Only 16 of the top 100 brands had mobile sites that could load in under a second. And only one site used responsive design on its desktop sites to phones, including Apple.

The Search Agency used a weighted set of criteria based on a site’s load time, mobile formatting, search, store locator, social and click-to-call functionality. REI had a near-perfect score (4.740 out of 5) followed closely by Toys ‘R Us (4.405) and CVS (4.285). In its report The Search Agency praised REI for its sub-second load time and the prominence of search box and store locator above the fold. 91 of the retailers used a dedicated mobile site design, however.

The survey found that 98% of mobile retail sites had a store locator and 94% had on-site search. But from there, support for social media sharing (38%), click to call (45%) and a dedicated app (35%) were uneven at best.

Burlington Coat Factory, Zales, Restoration Hardware and Apple were all the lowest-ranking retailers for mobile readiness. Most of them still send mobile visitors to full desktop sites.

The Search Agency is a strong proponent of responsive design, although some argue that it can result in sluggish performance, large page weights, long page scrolls and odd layouts. They counter that responsive approaches scale best across all current and future screens. It also allows a site to maintain its search visibility, link structure, and uniform analytics.