Why is speed so important for online shops?

The speed of an online shop has a direct impact on the user experience, the conversion rate and ultimately on sales. Slow loading times lead to a higher bounce rate, a decline in customer satisfaction and the associated loss of sales. In this article, you will find 50 compelling facts about why the speed of your online shop will continue to be crucial in 2024.

User expectations and behavior

  • 53% of visitors leave a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. (Google)

  • A 1-second delay can reduce conversion rates by up to 7%. (Akamai)

  • 47% of customers expect a page to load in 2 seconds or less. (Neil Patel)

  • 40% of mobile users leave a site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. (Google)

  • Websites that load in 1 second have an average conversion of 27%. (Unbounce)

  • Bounce rate increases by 32% when load time increases from 1 to 3 seconds. (Google)

  • 79% of online shoppers say they no longer visit a site that loads slowly. (Kissmetrics)

  • Every second of delay on a mobile page can reduce mobile conversion by up to 20%. (Google)

  • 52% of consumers believe that fast loading times promote customer loyalty. (Akamai)

  • More than 70% of customers say that slow loading times prevent them from completing a purchase. (Kissmetrics)

Mobile Commerce & Performance

  • 70% of global e-commerce sales are made via mobile devices. (Statista)

  • Slow mobile pages are the most common cause of abandoned purchases for 66% of customers. (Google)

  • Websites that load in under 3 seconds on mobile devices achieve a 24% increase in conversion. (Deloitte)

  • A 0.1-second improvement in load time can increase mobile conversion rates by up to 8%. (Google)

  • On average, mobile sites take 15 seconds to load. (Google)

  • 57% of consumers will leave a mobile site that takes longer than 3 seconds to load. (Google)

  • Mobile shopping sites that load in 5 seconds or less generate two times more revenue. (Google)

  • 75% of internet users worldwide access the internet via mobile devices. (Statista)

  • A 1-second delay in mobile page load time can cost a conversion rate of up to 20%. (Google)

  • Mobile-first strategies are essential in 2024 because 90% of e-commerce users shop via mobile devices. (eMarketer)

Impact on SEO and organic reach

  • Page speed is an important ranking signal for Google. (Google)

  • Slow websites are ranked lower in search results. (Google)

  • 53% of mobile users will leave a site that takes more than 3 seconds to load. (Google)

  • Websites that load faster get, on average, 50% more organic traffic. (Semrush)

  • Fast pages increase the time users spend on a page and reduce the bounce rate by 35%. (Akamai_

  • Websites with a load time of more than 4 seconds can lose up to 90% of their traffic. (Unbounce)

  • Google Core Web Vitals directly evaluate page speed and user experience and are an important SEO signal. (Google)

  • A reduction in loading time from 5 to 2 seconds can increase organic traffic by up to 50%. (Semrush)

  • Page speed optimization can lead to an increase in organic traffic of up to 20%. (Neil Patel)

  • SEO experts rate page speed as one of the top 5 ranking factors. (Moz)

Impact on conversion and revenue

  • A one-second delay in page load time can result in a revenue loss of $2.5 million per year (based on $100 million in annual revenue). (Amazon)

  • 64% of online shoppers say they would rather switch to a competitor if their site loads faster. (Akamai)

  • A 2-second faster page load time can reduce shopping cart abandonment by up to 20%. (Akamai)

  • Websites that load in 1-2 seconds have a conversion rate of up to 3% compared to sites that take 3-4 seconds. (Deloitte)

  • A fast online store results in higher customer satisfaction and increases the likelihood of repeat purchases by 40%. (Google)

  • Slow websites have up to 75% higher bounce rates than fast websites. (Kissmetrics)

  • Slow pages result in 15% fewer completed transactions at checkout. (Akamai)

  • 80% of online shoppers are not willing to make a second purchase from a site that loads slowly. (Google)

  • Customer loyalty drops by up to

    50% on slow websites. (Kissmetrics)

  • A 5-second to 3-second improvement in load time can increase the average order value by 12%. (Deloitte)

Technological trends and future prospects

  • Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) can drastically reduce load time by providing content offline and faster. (Google)

  • Server locations and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) improve load times by up to 60% by delivering content close to the user. (Cloudflare)

  • Lazy loading techniques improve load time by loading only the visible part of the page first, reducing initial load time by up to 50%. (Google)

  • Implementing AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) can reduce load time on mobile devices by up to

    85%. (Google)

  • Image optimization and file compression can reduce e-commerce site load time by up to 30%.

    (Shopify)

  • Using edge computing allows data to be processed closer to the end user, reducing load time by up to 30%. (Akamai)

  • HTTP/3 improves the speed and efficiency of connections compared to HTTP/2, which can reduce page load time by up to 20%. (Cloudflare)

  • WebP image formats can reduce image sizes by up to 34% compared to JPEG or PNG, which improves loading time. (Google)

  • Pre-fetching page content allows pages to be preloaded, reducing loading time by up to 50%. (Google)

  • Data compression with Brotli compared to Gzip can improve loading times by up to 25%. (Google)

Conclusion

The speed of an online store will remain a critical success factor in e-commerce in 2024. Modern approaches such as composable commerce and cloud technology enable companies to dynamically scale their web shops and sustainably improve performance. The flexible use of these technologies allows individual areas such as shopping carts, product catalogs or checkout processes to be optimized independently of each other and adapted to the company's individual requirements—which is a significant advantage not only when user numbers and peak loads are high.

Bright IT has extensive experience in implementing composable commerce and cloud-based solutions. Our team can help you design your online shop so that it remains lightning fast and reliable even when traffic is high. Together, we will develop a strategy that boosts your performance and lays the foundation for long-term success.

Arrange a no-obligation consultation with Bright IT experts now to optimize your online shop's performance and efficiently achieve your business goals.

Klaus Unterkircher

CEO/Founder, Bright IT