78% of consumers switch to competing site due to loading time frustration

According to a survey published yesterday by Gomez, the Detroit-based web performance company, 78% of consumers will click away from your website and make a purchase from a competitor if your website takes too long to load – this fast loading expectation applies even at peak times.

The survey, entitled “When More Website Visitors Hurt Your Business: Are You Ready for Peak Traffic?” was an independent study examining the performance of websites experiencing peak traffic volumes and the impact on consumer behavior and business results.

The study polled 1500 people who use the Web at peak times such as holiday shopping or booking summer travel. It concluded that poor web performance is rife in the retail, finance and travel industries, and that this has a dramatic and lasting impact on where consumers spend money online.

The survey found that:

• Consumers do the lion’s share of their online spending during peak traffic times and have high expectations for web performance.
• During these peak times, 51% spend a significant percentage of their online shopping budget and 35% make online travel bookings.
• 67% of consumers expect websites to work well regardless of how many visitors they have.
• Consumers’ expectations for quality web performance were not met during 2009.
• 72% experienced slower websites more frequently during peak traffic periods than at other times. 58% reported more errors and 51% encountered more failing transactions.
• Unacceptable website performance during peak traffic times led to actions and perceptions that negatively impacted businesses’ revenue and reputation:
• 78% of consumers have switched to a competitor’s website because they encountered slowdowns, errors and transaction problems during peak traffic times.
• After a poor online experience, 88% are less likely to return to a site, 47% have a less positive perception of the company and 42% have discussed it with family, friends and peers, or online on social networks.
• Poor web performance at peak times is endemic across the financial, travel and retail verticals harming both short-term revenues and long-term customer relationships:
• 53% of consumers using the web for purchasing package holidays, flights and hotels will only tolerate one or two bad web experiences during peak times before booking on a different travel website.
• 33% of online shoppers experienced poor web performance on a retail website during the 2009 festive shopping season and 41% of them say they would abandon a retailer’s website after just one of two poor experiences.

Matt Poepsel from Gomez commented “Peak web traffic means increased revenue opportunity: for most businesses, peak periods are precisely when they spend the most on promotions and campaigns to drive visitors to their sites and convert the sale. However, it’s clear that peak traffic also means increased risk for degraded web performance and, consequently, lost business, as this survey starkly confirms.”

It is interesting to learn that not only do consumers experience frustration when it comes to websites loading slowly but they also tell their friends, family and social networks about it. Another key finding from the survey shows that consumers essentially don’t care whether they’re shopping at peak times or not, they expect your website to work well regardless.

Gomez, the company behind the survey, advise all businesses to speak to their website designer/developer immediately about loading times and traffic load testing to ensure your customers aren’t being brushed away by your slow loading web pages.