Original research of 2,000 UK consumers in thinkTRIBE’s ‘Preparing for perma-peak: The changing face of the trading calendar’ report reveals that 73% of consumers would abandon a purchase if they couldn’t quickly find what they were looking for online, while a third (31%) would not tolerate a wait of more than 5 seconds for a webpage to load.
This, the report suggests, demonstrates the impact of poor web performance in frustrating high intent shoppers and causing lost sales opportunities – especially during high demand periods, such as peak trading.
93% of shoppers admitted being frustrated by having to ‘queue’ to get on to retailers’ websites on Black Friday, and a further 90% of consumers felt that if retailers’ websites could not deal with Black Friday demand, they should not be taking part in the discounting event at all.
Deri Jones, CEO at thinkTRIBE, commented:
“No matter how ambitious or straightforward your website experiences may be, performance is critical and needs to be robust enough to deliver quick and seamless CX, and can deal with the volume of visitors during trading peaks and demand surges throughout the year.”
“Customers want the speed and ease of finding a product with your website so they can convert and make a purchase. The moment technology makes an action or process more complicated, customers will vote with their feet – and their wallets – which not only causes lost conversions but also lost loyalty and customer lifetime value. Retailers that adopt a continuous improvement strategy for their digital channels will we be those who will win the business, with greater online user experience and higher conversions,” he concluded.