Survey finds that slow websites prompt cancelled orders
A new survey has found that 56% of consumers who spend more than two hours per week shopping online have cancelled an order due to an error or slow response time.
The research for Monitis, the cloud and web application monitoring software provider, also found that 74% of the 1,006 the online shoppers surveyed would switch to a competing online retailer if they could find a better user experience and faster website. Frequent online shoppers were even less tolerant of slow e-retail websites with 86% of those who spent two or more hours shopping online each week saying that they would abandon their chosen online vendor if they found a faster competitor.
81% of all respondents listed convenience as the number one reason for choosing to shop online rather than making purchases at physical stores, while only 61% cited price as the most important factor.
More than half of all respondents (56%) also indicated that website usability was an important factor when comparing one retail website with another, coming in just behind price and reputation. 61% of all respondents said they would leave a web page and search for a competing retailer if the page took longer than 30 seconds to load.
Never Miss a Retail Update!The most popular time to shop online for 40% of respondents was during the hours of 9am and 5pm while 32% preferred shopping in the early evening between 5pm and 8pm.
Hovhannes Avoyan, general manager at Monitis, said: “Simply avoiding downtime is often the primary goal for web developers and designers when maintaining websites, but as the holiday rush has shifted to online stores, success depends less on the minimum threshold of uptime and more on meeting the various other expectations of shoppers, to keep them coming back.
“Consumers turn to online vendors for convenience, so it’s critical that e-retailers ensure a positive shopping experience by focusing on website usability and speed.”
