42% of online gift shoppers have abandoned sites that load too slowly
A new study of 1,500 consumers’ experience of shopping for gifts online has found that the majority are continuing to experience ‘virtual’ queues at online shops in the run up to Christmas.
The new Seasonal Web Sales study, from web hosting provider Fasthosts Internet, found that 80% of shoppers encounter slow working websites around Christmas and 30% believe that websites perform more slowly in the run-up to the holiday season. An alarming 42% of consumers have abandoned purchases on slow running sites while buying their gifts, and 34% are more likely to switch to a competitor’s website during this period.
Around one third of consumers believe that retailer websites work more slowly at Christmas than at other times of the year. A total of 44% of shoppers have faced delays in the ecommerce process, including slower product searches, delayed payment processes and delays in receiving emailed confirmations. One in four shoppers (24%) also believe that retailers add too many seasonal products and offers to their websites, and so make the sites more difficult to navigate.
A significant number of Britons will sidestep brand loyalty in favour of speed and abandon a preferred retailer’s site for a competitor’s website because of the pressure of Christmas shopping, the survey found. One in three shoppers (34%) admit to being more likely to abandon a slow-running retail website at Christmas than at other times of the year — and 28% of shoppers admit to feeling more negative towards retailers as a result.
Women were found to be more inclined to switch to an alternative if they are experiencing problems with a retailer’s website (44%, compared to 39% of men).
“The data shows that whilst many firms sell successfully online, usability can take a real knock at the most crucial time of the year,” says Fasthosts’ Steve Holford . “Shoppers today are more impatient and unforgiving than ever before, and are ready to source an alternative. Retailers must ensure that their hosting responds dynamically with increases in demand or they will lose revenue and reputation”.
Related news
- 82% of shoppers leave ecommerce sites empty-handed
- Sales slowly shifting to mobile, but user experience and good service are key, 10,000 e-shoppers tell ForeSee Results
- Christmas: Online retailers are not preparing sites early enough
- McAfee: Most abandoned carts are not dead — they’re just resting
- 93% of consumers will buy a gift online this Christmas
- UK retailers’ ability to keep sites up during peak times shows marked improvement
3 Comments »
One had to run a “study” to discover this well known fact of life?
The run up to Christmas is one of the busiest shopping periods off and online, so it is vital for brands to recognise the need to maximise their ecommerce performance to increase profitability and secure their share of consumer spend.
Many ecommerce sites will fail because they have not been developed on the most robust and dynamic platform and do not follow best practice optimisation techniques specific for their platform, this can seriously curtail their ability to evolve and enhance their site. Serious ecommerce brands need to recognise that a site is a constantly evolving entity, and therefore needs to be created on a platform which makes this ongoing process an achievable one, able to adapt to the needs of its consumers and the brand.
Measuring, monitoring and having an effective optimisation strategy for the performance of every aspect of the ecommerce platform is essential, from checkout to product displays to customer experience is crucial to this process.
[...] 42% of online gift shoppers have abandoned sites that load too slowly [...]
Additional comments powered byBackType