Forrester Recommends Performance Testing
Since the rise of online shopping in the late 1990s, we have seen many evolutions in the underlying technology infrastructure and in consumer expectations. Elements fueling these evolutions include the rise of broadband access in homes and businesses, improvements to the usability of sites and Web navigation such as search, the number of leading brands and retailers selling online, as well as improvements to the underlying technology behind sites. Based on this study of 1,048 online shoppers, Forrester's study yielded these key findings: It is clear that there are serious consequences for an online retailer with an underperforming site. However, by taking steps to improve site features and performance, online retailers can look to increase overall consumer satisfaction and ultimately increase sales. Forrester recommends that online retailers test their Web site performance, fix easy site features and performance issues before attempting to address larger problems, as well as improve the multichannel experience by addressing content and functionality issues on the retail site.
Forty-seven percent of consumers expect to wait no more than 2 seconds for a Web page to render. Online shopper loyalty is contingent upon quick page loading, especially for high-spending shoppers. Fifty-two percent of online shoppers said that quick page loading is important to their site loyalty. Sixty-one percent of online shoppers who spend more than $1,500 online per year insist on pages loading quickly.
Twenty-three percent of dissatisfied online shoppers attributed their dissatisfaction to the Web site being too slow or taking too long to render. Another 17% reported dissatisfaction due to site crashes or error messages they received. One-third of shoppers who abandoned a recent shopping session were dissatisfied with a retail site's performance.
Seventy-nine percent of online shoppers who experience a dissatisfying visit are likely to no longer buy from that site. Also, 46% of dissatisfied online shoppers are more likely to develop a negative perception of the company, and 44% will tell their friends and family about the experience. With 87% of consumers shopping in both online and retail channels, the impact of a bad online experience reaches beyond the Web.
Sixteen percent of consumers have shopped via mobile phones or smartphones, but 27% of them report that it is dissatisfying due to the mobile shopping experience being too slow. One-third of consumers report wanting to shop via their smartphones in the future, with 5% indicating that this will be an important aspect of their loyalty to online retailers.
