An article published on the Internet Retailer online magazine warns against the use of responsive web design for e-retailers, claiming eCommerce websites suffer when using web design style, citing drawbacks for image heavy sites.

Responsive web design is a web design style that aims to take a customers required web design and then craft it in such a way as it will display on a number of different screen sizes, computers and devices. This means that the web designers don’t need to create an alternative design for different devices, like smartphones, tablets and other computers.

The article discusses the views of Raul Justiniano, a web developer for the Original Penguin brand. He claims that although there are benefits to having one site that that works on every device there are limitations when the site has a large number of images and this has a knock on effect with e-commerce websites.

If you consider the appearance of a product thumbnail list on the small screen of a Blackberry you really can see his point. Finding the product you’re looking for could become difficult if this is the primary navigation and it uses text and visual clues to help users find their products.

Displaying product detail can also be problematic, especially if your site is programmed to shrink 50% when displaying a web page on a mobile phone. This is going to affect the quality of the image output to the website visitor.

Philip Brassington of Rake Mark Solutions support this view with a clear image of your product is a minimum requirement when selling online.

“When you have no image your sales of that product shrink to practically zero” he said.

Raul Justiniano recommends that e-retailers create different images for smaller screens.

“For example, a home page image that shows PC users six fashion models might be cropped to show just four models, so that a smartphone user still sees the apparel with sufficient detail.” he says.

Justiniano coins the phrase ‘adaptive design’ rather than ‘responsive design’. In his explanation of this he states that parts of the site should remain responsive where  appropriate with substitute elements to ‘adapt’ the websites design where appropriate.

The cost of adaptive design to the website owner would depend on the site, but would probably remain outside of the budget of most small to medium eCommerce website owners. So until it is included into an eCommerce website package it will remain a web design discussion over a requirement.

At 9am on Sunday 11th November a UK first will occur. The Royal British Legion will unleash a social media Thunderclap to promote Two Minutes Silence in remembrance of all the men and women who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.

A Social Media Thunderclap is a ‘crowdspeaking platform’ that allows a single message to be mass shared simultaneously. The Thunderclap organisation describes it as being like a social media flash mob, helping the single message to rise above the noise of social networks.

The subsequent retweeting or Facebook ‘liking’ of the original simultaneous Thunderclap message, serves to ensure that important causes achieve global recognition by harnessing the power of social media.

“Twitter is a wonderful way to say something, but it’s difficult to be heard,” says Hashem Bajwa, De-De’s CEO. “Thunderclap lets people be heard by saying something together.”

Join the British Legion Thunderclap and Show Your Support

As the first UK organisation to use the Thunderclap social media tool the British Legion will use the Thunderclap to encourage the UK’s 10 million Twitter and 33 million Facebook users to observe the Two Minute Silence on Remembrance Sunday (11am on Sunday 11 November).

On Sunday morning, 11 November, in advance of the traditional Two Minute Silence at 11am, a ‘stockpile’ of tweets and updates made by British social media users will be unleashed.

The message, ‘I’ll be remembering the fallen at 11 o’clock #2MinuteSilence #LestWeForget’ will be broadcast across the social media websites of twitter and Facebook in a simultaneous expression of support.

To join the Thunderclap and show your support simply visit the Thunderclap page – www.thunderclap.it/projects/547-two-minute-silence. Once there you can then support the effort by clicking to authorise your Twitter and Facebook accounts to send this message simultaneously on Sunday 11 November with every other participant.

If you have opted-in to participate, Thunderclap will automatically send out the message at 9am on 11 November.

Helen Hill, Head of Remembrance at The Royal British Legion comments, “We hope to create the largest ever show of online Remembrance by using the communicative power of social media to remind millions of Britons that they have a very personal opportunity to honour the men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice.”

Rake Mark have joined the Thunderclap to show their support and will be observing the two minute silence.

The British Legion have, this year, launched a campaign to highlight twitter and Facebook use during the traditional two minute silence, reminding us that remembrance is about pausing for two minutes rather than simply observing the silence.

We remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms by falling silent at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For two minutes offices, shops, train stations and broadcasting organisations all fall silent as we pause and reflect as a mark of respect.

But Facebook, twitter and other social media websites continue with tweets and status updates continuing without interruption.

The British Legion Website reminds us of the importance of remembrance stating,

‘Remembrance is not just about those who fought in the two World Wars of the last century, but also about those involved in the many other conflicts worldwide since 1945 and those still fighting for peace and freedom today. It is also about learning from the past and resolving to make the world a better place to live in the future.

The act of observing a Two Minute Silence began in 1919 following the Armistice at 11am on 11 November 1918 at the end of the First World War.’

Rake Mark Observes the Armistice

Rake Mark are supporting the remembrance via our twitter feed and Facebook page, by posting
‘I’ll be remembering the fallen at 11 o’clock #2MinuteSilence #LestWeForget’,
but our feeds will fall silent at 11am.

The Rake Mark team would also like to remind our customers, clients and callers that as a part of the remembrance that they do not answer calls, emails or support requests in the run up to eleven and during the two minute silence.

More than three quarters of the UK population are expected to pause for the Two Minute Silence at 11am on 11 November, the moment the guns fell silent at the end of the First World War.