Poor web site performance means lost sales and opportunity for e-stores

[mandy]

Another study reaffirms what web retailers should already know: poor site performance causes lost sales and missed customer opportunities.

But the new study... also reveals that nine out of 10 web shoppers still experience performance-related problems such as broken links, pages that fail to load, poor navigation and other issues. As a result, 40% of online consumers abandon their attempt at completing a transaction...

91% of online consumers who experienced any type of problem when conducting an online transaction said they are at least somewhat likely to question the ability of a company to keep their private data secure if they encounter an online issue. Since web site security (26%) and ease of completing a transaction (22%) are the top two factors contributing to a positive customer experience when conducting an online transaction, any type of problem or issue has the potential to negatively impact the trusted relationship between the consumer and the web site...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=19980

[mandy]

Another article on the same survey:

Consumers are demanding more from online merchants now than in the past, he added. When this survey was conducted last year, he explained, 82 percent of the respondents said they expected their online shopping experience to be the same as their offline experience. This year, that figure climbed to 85 percent.

"That shows a maturing of the online customer's expectations," Galat maintained.

"That's different from the way a lot of online businesses view the customer," he continued. "A lot of e-businesses take the perspective that the customers are willing to tolerate failure once in a while because it's the Web, and it's new.

"The reality is, it's not new anymore, and customers ... want to get done what they want to get done," Galat concluded...

full article: http://ecommercetimes.com/story/AaFf2nsc...ions.xhtml