Consumers Won’t Tolerate Poor Peak Hour Retail Site Experiences

February 23, 2012

compuware-tolerance-poor-site-performance-feb-2012.jpg22% of consumers responding to a Compuware survey conducted in 2011 said it would only take a single poor experience (slow website response, web error, or inability to complete a transaction) from an e-commerce website at peak times for them to leave the website and shop elsewhere, more than double the proportion (10%) who responded that way in 2009, according to [download page] the survey results released in February 2012. The proportion who would tolerate 3 or 4 poor site experiences dropped from 44% to 32% in that timespan, while only 8% said poor experiences would not impact the websites they use to shop, down from 10% in 2009.

35-54-Year-Olds Most Likely to Switch Websites

Examining reactions to the holiday shopping season at the time of the survey, Compuware found that 30% of consumers had purchased from another website due to a bad online experience at the website they first went to. Of those, the most likely to do so were 35-54-year-olds (31%), followed by 21-34-year-olds (28%). Of note, the 35-54 group was also the one to spend the most on average at the retail websites.

2 in 5 Say Problems Unacceptable

Looking at all websites (not limited to e-commerce), 37% of respondents in 2011 said that encountering problems or slow load times during peak internet usage times is unacceptable, representing a 27.6% rise from 29% of respondents in 2009. Even so, expectations appear to be down: 59% of respondents said they expected websites to work no matter how many visitors they have, down from 67% two years earlier, while the proportion who said they are fine with websites performing poorly during peak times almost tripled, from 4% to 11%.

Other Findings:

  • 86% of online consumers are less likely to return to a company’s website after a poor experience.
  • After a subpar experience on a company’s website, 43% of online consumers had a less positive perception of the company, and a third went on to tell others about it.
  • 30% of consumers used a smartphone or tablet to read and receive news or information online, but their experiences were worse than on their personal computers. According to a survey released in November by Limelight Networks, mobile shoppers are quick to penalize retailers for unsatisfactory site experiences: 20% of mobile shoppers reported responding to a bad shopping experience on their mobile device by completing their research and/or purchase but vowing to never return to the site in the future if they could avoid it, with a further 18% saying they abandoned the site and sought out alternative brands using their device.

About the Data: The Compuware findings are based on a survey conducted by Equation Research, which held interviews from October 19 through October 22, 2011. The survey sample represents 1,509 total respondents. Respondents were recruited from Equation’s nationally representative panel partner via email. 52% of respondents were female, the average was 42, and 47% had annual income of more than $50k.

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