Poorly optimised websites and inferior online experience could cost UK retailer £10.6 billion in lost revenues in 2019, according to new research.
The research of over 2,000 UK shoppers conducted by web performance and testing service provider, Tribe (formerly SciVisum), also revealed on average UK shoppers abandon 10% of their total online shopping spend due to poor website performance, leaving UK retailers facing £10.6 billion in lost sales*.
Key findings:
- With 83% of consumers saying they would simply shop elsewhere if they experienced poor website performance, the biggest pain-point causing UK consumers to abandon a purchase was slow loading webpages for 37% shoppers. This was followed by experiencing pages errors, such as receiving an Error 404 notification, and broken links for a further third (35%) and 28%, respectively.
- Moreover, 79% of UK shoppers felt retailers could do more to make their websites easier to shop, with fast loading webpages (54%), smoother online checkout processes (52%) and better site navigation (48%) among the top improvements.
- This, the report suggests, demonstrates the need for retailers and brands to adopt a nuanced approach to website load testing and site optimisation to ensure they maintain the loyalty of their customers, especially in the new retail trading environment of ‘perma-peak’
Please find below further details including some thoughts from Deri Jones, CEO at Tribe.
With 83% of consumers saying they would simply shop elsewhere if they experienced poor website performance, the biggest pain-point causing UK consumers to abandon a purchase was slow loading webpages for 37% shoppers. This was followed by experiencing pages errors, such as receiving an Error 404 notification, and broken links for a further third (35%) and 28%, respectively.
79% of UK shoppers felt retailers could do more to make their websites easier to shop, with fast loading webpages (54%), smoother online checkout processes (52%) and better site navigation (48%) among the top improvements.
This, the report suggests, demonstrates the need for retailers and brands to adopt a nuanced approach to website load testing and site optimisation to ensure they maintain the loyalty of their customers, especially in the new retail trading environment of ‘perma-peak’, as Deri Jones, CEO at Tribe, explained:
“In the era of digitally transformed retail, the highly-predictable calendar of predefined trading peaks of yesteryear looks increasingly antiquated. The very heartbeat of retail is now driven by customer demand, facilitated by real-time data analytics, low-latency digital networks and algorithm-driven micro-trends that can sweep a social network in nanoseconds.”
“The first challenge when preparing your website for the new era of perma-peak is to adopt a regime of always-on testing. Trading peaks can happen at any time, so websites need to be in a state of permanent readiness to ensure customer experience is upheld, customer loyalty remains uncompromised, and sales opportunities aren’t lost,” he concluded.
For further information on how retailers can navigate the high-speed ecommerce environment, and to maintain their ecommerce platforms in a state of readiness, download the full report here.
