Slow and Steady Not Winning Any Races

Recently we blogged about what 2013 has taught us about e-commerce trends. The bottom line is that more and more folks are skipping the store and choosing to shop on their mobile devices in the comfort of their own homes instead. After all, the weather outside has been frightful in many parts of the country. But so many people have continued shopping online after the holiday season that top retailer websites lagged well into the first week of January.

Internet Retailer recently reported, “nine of the top 10 sites on the Keynote Mobile Commerce Performance Index saw slower page loads for the week ending January 5th.”

People tend to spend holiday cash or use those gift cards that seem to burn holes in pockets at this time of year. So this data may come as no big surprise, but it does raise a question. Are retailers doing everything they can to keep their sites easy, fast and convenient?

According to Pew Internet & American Life Project, 56 percent of American adults now own smartphones. That means we can shop from wherever: the bus, the couch, even the bathtub. The caveat is that retailers have to hold our attention, lest we pick up the loofah instead, or move on to a competitor’s site. That means no slow loads. Here’s something to ponder from kissmetrics.com. “If an e-commerce site is making $100,000 per day, a 1 second page delay could potentially cost you $2.5 million in lost sales every year.” Yikes!