Every hassle-free minute counts when it comes to shopping online, according to a survey that suggests 56pc of consumers who spend more than two hours per week shopping online have cancelled an order due to an error or slow response time.
Opinion Matters on behalf of cloud and web application monitoring software provider Monitis conducted the survey of 1,006 online shoppers in the US to explore online shopping habits and behaviours, and factors consumers consider in choosing an online vendor.
Not surprisingly, online shoppers like fast websites that are user friendly, the survey reveals. Seventy-four per cent of survey respondents said they would switch to a competing online vendor if they could find a better user experience and faster website than the one they now use.
Frequent online shoppers – those who spend two or more hours shopping online weekly – are even less tolerant of slow e-retail websites, with 86pc saying they would ditch their online vendor for a faster vendor. Sixty-one per cent of all online shoppers would leave a web page and seek out another vendor if it took longer than 30 seconds for a page to load.
Website usability is important for 56pc of survey respondents when it comes to comparing one retail website to another, followed by price and reputation.
“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,” said Hovhannes Avoyan, general manager at Monitis.
“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.”
