Is It Just Speed? Or Maybe Just Plain Simple.
Back in 2001, there was a lot of talk about the “8 Second Rule” as it related to e-commerce and buyer patience.
Earlier this month Akamai, a service that hosts data in multiple locations for better web site performance, published some details about some new research on the subject. The first line states a key finding in simple terms:
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.
Based on the feedback of 1,058 online shoppers that were surveyed during the first half of 2006, JupiterResearch offers the following analysis:
- 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.
The JupiterResearch report also states:
- 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 for online sites
- Forty-six percent of online shoppers insist on a rapid checkout process, with 55 percent of shoppers spending $1,500 or more demanding the same
- Sixty-five percent indicated they are likely to return to a site that is easy to navigate, particularly during the registration, log-in and checkout processes
This is very important information as a web site is the primary means for a growing number to gain information about all sorts of products, services, and interests.
Many factors can cause delay in excess of 4 seconds such as browser compatibility, large amounts of imagery, flash, and media, or the location of the hosting server which Akamai focuses on resolving.
With a bit of foresight and a good partner for your project, this threshhold should be relatively easy to overcome. And, even if some circumstances cause your site to exceed 4 seconds from the users perspective, some notes on a study done related to the 8 second rule back in 2001 offers some insight:
There was still another surprising finding from our study: a strong correlation between perceived download time and whether users successfully completed their tasks on a site. There was, however, no correlation between actual download time and task success, causing us to discard our original hypothesis. It seems that, when people accomplish what they set out to do on a site, they perceive that site to be fast.
I suppose the old K.I.S.S. mantra still holds true and everyday people, the ones we all want to buy from us, aren’t all that impressed if they can’t just get what they need and be done with it.
