FEB. 21 I STEVE WEISS MUSIC I TECHNOLOGY
Steve Weiss Gets Boost With Mobile Site

Steve Weiss Music has bolstered its online business via the power of mobile websites. According to Dan Sullivan, general manager of the Willow Grove, Pa., dealership, the company's number of mobile transactions is up 150 percent since it launched a dedicated mobile site in September 2011.

The site, which uses the same underlying structure as its desktop counterpart, was built completely in-house by Sullivan and Kurt Gawinowicz, Steve Weiss Music's Web designer. Sullivan added that there were no costs in developing the site except for roughly 120 hours of salary.

"We weren't sure it would be worth the investment,"Sullivan said. "Any doubt we had quickly disappeared.

"This approach reduces maintenance, as we only need to maintain one set of code. All of our pages have the same address, regardless of whether you're on a phone or a laptop. And because it's a website and not an app, our customers don't need to have a specific phone to get all the benefits."

Since September, the company's mobile conversion rate is also up 40 percent over the same prior length of time (March through August). The average mobile order is up 3.4 percent.

"We've always been known for having a cutting-edge website, so the mobile site has been on our radar for quite some time,"Sullivan said. "It has thoroughly exceeded expectations. We are glad that we jumped on this opportunity when we did — it has been paying off tenfold."