Four second attention span

Four seconds is the maximum length of time an average online shopper will wait for a Web page to load before potentially abandoning a retail site. This is one of several findings in a report by Akamai Technologies and JupiterResearch.

The report examined consumer reactions to poor online shopping experiences.

The most disliked online shopping factors were the ones you'd imagine - high product prices and shipping costs. The surprising finding was that poor site performance was ranked third on the dissatisfaction scale.

1,058 online shoppers were surveyed and revealed:

  • The consequences for an online retailer whose site underperforms include diminished goodwill, negative brand perception, and, most important, significant loss in overall sales.
  • Online shopper loyalty is contingent upon quick page loading, especially for high-spending shoppers and those with greater tenure.
  • JupiterResearch recommends that retailers make every effort to keep page rendering to no longer than four seconds.
  • Roughly half of 'mature' online shoppers - those with either two or more years tenure shopping online or that spend more than $1,500 annually - identify page loading time as one of their top priorities.
  • Forty-six per cent of online shoppers insist on a rapid checkout process, with 55 per cent of shoppers spending $1,500 or more demanding the same.
  • Sixty-five per cent indicated they are likely to return to a site that is easy to navigate, particularly during the registration, log-in and checkout processes.

Additional findings in the report show that more than one third of shoppers with a poor experience abandoned the site entirely, while 75 per cent were unlikely to shop on that site again. These results demonstrate that a poorly performing website can be damaging to a company's reputation; according to the survey, nearly 30 per cent of dissatisfied customers will either develop a negative perception of the company or tell their friends and family about the experience.

Akamai Vice President of Marketing, Brad Rinklin said, "Online shoppers not only demand quality site performance, they expect it. Four seconds is the new benchmark by which a retail site will be judged."

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