Responsive Storefront

Responsive Storefront

Overview

Apply mobile-first responsive design patterns to a commerce storefront so that the shopping experience is fast and usable on phones, where the majority of commerce traffic originates. Key patterns include thumb-zone aware layouts, a sticky buy bar that appears on scroll, tap-target sizing, and responsive product grids that reflow without horizontal scrolling.

When to Use This Skill

• When more than 50% of storefront traffic comes from mobile devices (check your analytics)
• When building a new storefront from scratch and laying out the CSS architecture
• When auditing an existing storefront for mobile usability issues
• When implementing a product detail page and need a sticky buy button pattern
• When optimizing mobile conversion rate and cart abandonment

Core Instructions

Step 1: Determine the merchant's platform and choose the right approach

Step 2: Configure mobile layout on your platform

Shopify

Theme Editor mobile configuration:

1. Go to Online Store → Themes → Customize
2. Click the Mobile preview icon in the top toolbar to preview on a phone
3. Configure Header settings:
   • Set Mobile menu type: Drawer (recommended) or Dropdown
   • Enable Sticky header so navigation stays visible while scrolling
4. Configure Collection page:
   • Set Products per row (mobile) to 2 (standard) or 1 (large cards)
   • Enable Filters as a drawer on mobile (not sidebar)
5. Configure Product page:
   • Enable Sticky add-to-cart in the product section settings
   • Set Media placement to stack gallery above product info on mobile (this is the default)
6. In Theme settings → Buttons, set button height to at least 44px to meet touch target requirements

Testing mobile performance:

1. Open Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev) and enter your store URL
2. Review the Mobile tab — aim for 75+ Performance score
3. The most common fix: compress images via Settings → Files and replace large images with WebP versions

WooCommerce

Astra theme mobile configuration:

1. Go to Appearance → Customize → Header → Mobile Header
2. Configure hamburger menu style and position
3. Under Appearance → Customize → WooCommerce → Shop Page, set Products per row (mobile) to 2
4. Under Appearance → Customize → WooCommerce → Product Page, enable Sticky Add to Cart bar for mobile
5. In Appearance → Customize → Global → Container, ensure container width is 100% on mobile (no horizontal padding issues)

Kadence theme mobile configuration:

1. Go to Appearance → Customize → WooCommerce → Product Archive
2. Set mobile columns to 2 and configure card spacing
3. Under Appearance → Customize → WooCommerce → Product Page, enable Sticky Add to Cart
4. In Kadence → Header Builder, configure the mobile header layout — Kadence lets you drag elements (logo, menu, cart) to separate mobile header rows

Flatsome theme:

1. In Theme Options → WooCommerce → Products, configure mobile product grid columns
2. Enable Sticky Add to Cart in Theme Options → WooCommerce → Product
3. Flatsome's UX Builder has a mobile preview mode — use it to inspect every page's mobile layout

BigCommerce

Cornerstone mobile configuration:

1. Go to Storefront → My Themes → Customize
2. Preview on mobile using the device icon in the toolbar
3. Under Global → Layout, configure mobile breakpoints and container padding
4. Under Product Page → Images, set gallery layout to Stacked on mobile (image above product info)
5. Enable Mobile overlay for the cart — this converts the cart from a sidebar to a bottom sheet on mobile
6. Under Category Page → Product Cards, set mobile columns to 2

Custom / Headless

Mobile-first CSS foundations:

/* tokens.css */
:root {
  --space-sm: 0.5rem;
  --space-md: 1rem;
  --space-lg: 1.5rem;
  --touch-target: 44px;     /* WCAG 2.5.5 minimum tap target */
  --content-max-width: 1200px;
}

/* Breakpoints: sm=640px, md=768px, lg=1024px */
/* Write base styles for mobile, add min-width queries for larger screens */

Responsive product grid (auto-fills columns based on available width):

.product-grid {
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(min(160px, 100%), 1fr));
  gap: var(--space-md);
  padding: var(--space-md);
}

@media (min-width: 640px) {
  .product-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(200px, 1fr)); }
}

@media (min-width: 1024px) {
  .product-grid { grid-template-columns: repeat(auto-fill, minmax(240px, 1fr)); gap: var(--space-lg); }
}

/* Minimum 44px touch target on product card CTA */
.product-card__cta { min-height: var(--touch-target); display: flex; align-items: center; }

Sticky buy bar — appears when primary Add to Cart scrolls out of view:

export function StickyBuyBar({ product, onAddToCart }) {
  const [visible, setVisible] = useState(false);

  useEffect(() => {
    const primaryBtn = document.getElementById('main-add-to-cart');
    if (!primaryBtn) return;
    const obs = new IntersectionObserver(([e]) => setVisible(!e.isIntersecting));
    obs.observe(primaryBtn);
    return () => obs.disconnect();
  }, []);

  return (
    <div className={`sticky-buy-bar ${visible ? 'visible' : ''}`} aria-hidden={!visible}>
      <img src={product.image} alt="" width="40" height="40" />
      <span>{product.name}</span>
      <span>${product.price}</span>
      <button tabIndex={visible ? 0 : -1}>Add to Cart</button>
    </div>
  );
}

.sticky-buy-bar {
  position: fixed; bottom: 0; left: 0; right: 0;
  background: #fff; border-top: 1px solid #e2e8f0;
  transform: translateY(100%); transition: transform 0.2s ease; z-index: 50;
  padding-bottom: env(safe-area-inset-bottom); /* iPhone home indicator */
  display: flex; align-items: center; gap: 0.5rem; padding: 0.75rem 1rem;
}
.sticky-buy-bar.visible { transform: translateY(0); }

Mobile cart drawer (bottom sheet pattern):

.cart-drawer {
  position: fixed; right: 0; top: 0; bottom: 0;
  width: min(400px, 100vw); background: #fff;
  transform: translateX(100%); transition: transform 0.3s ease;
  overflow-y: auto; overscroll-behavior: contain;
}

@media (max-width: 640px) {
  .cart-drawer {
    top: auto; width: 100vw; height: 85vh;
    transform: translateY(100%); border-radius: 16px 16px 0 0;
  }
  .cart-drawer.open { transform: translateY(0); }
}

.cart-drawer.open { transform: translateX(0); }

/* Checkout button stays within thumb reach */
.cart-checkout-btn {
  position: sticky; bottom: 0; background: #fff;
  padding: var(--space-md);
  padding-bottom: calc(var(--space-md) + env(safe-area-inset-bottom));
}

Global 44px touch targets:

button, a, input[type="checkbox"], input[type="radio"], select, [role="button"] {
  min-height: var(--touch-target);
  min-width: var(--touch-target);
}

Best Practices

• Write mobile-first CSS — start with the smallest screen styles and add min-width media queries to enlarge; the reverse approach leads to specificity conflicts
• Use env(safe-area-inset-bottom) — required for iPhone notch/home indicator; without it, bottom-fixed buttons are obscured
• Test with real devices — browser DevTools emulation does not replicate iOS Safari's dynamic viewport height or touch scroll inertia
• Use overscroll-behavior: contain on scroll containers — prevents body scroll from leaking when users swipe in the cart drawer
• Use 100dvh instead of 100vh on full-screen elements — iOS Safari's dynamic toolbar causes 100vh to include the toolbar height, causing overflow
• Set font-size to at least 16px on <body> — prevents iOS Safari from auto-zooming on input focus

Common Pitfalls

Related Skills

• @mega-menu-builder
• @quick-view-modal
• @accessibility-commerce
• @storefront-theming