Mobile-First Approach Drives Gilt.com's Digital Success

2. Optimize for weekends and downtime. Mobile usage peaks on weekends and holidays, John said, so offer mobile-exclusive content and sales during this time. For example, iPad usage tends to peak in the evening when consumers are relaxing at home, so consider running a flash-sale on your iPad app during this time frame.

3. Make it fast. Consumers typically don't want to spend a lot of time on your mobile site or app, so make the buying process as seamless and efficient as possible. For example, save credit card information for repeat buyers to speed up checkout. Our goal is to make the entire mobile shopping experience less than two minutes, John said. If users have to spend more than two minutes — unless they want to — we're not doing our job, he added.

4. Create an integrated mobile experience. This includes messaging as well as the purchase experience, John said. To help in this area, Gilt is training all of its 100-plus IT engineers on mobile design/coding as well as its traditional e-commerce site architecture. The goal is to no longer have a mobile department, John added. All IT engineers will be skilled on both desktop and mobile.

5. Know your funnel. Understand the motivations of your mobile visitors, John advised. Are they coming to your mobile app to shop? Research a product before going to purchase it in-store? Using it as a store locator? Once you know the motivations of your mobile visitors, you can better serve them.