Conversion Rate & Page Load Speed

For years, research has consistently shown that website performance, and especially page load speed is directly correlated to conversion rate. A website visitor is more likely to click the Buy button and complete checkout on fast-loading pages. The faster the website speed, the higher the conversion rate.

Some recent figures:

70% of consumers say site speed impacts their willingness to buy from an e-tailer
Pages loaded in less than 1 second have an average conversion rate of almost 32%.
Pages loaded in 2.4 seconds have an average conversion rate of 1,9%
Pages loaded in 3.3 seconds: 1.5% conversion rate
Pages loaded in 4.2 seconds: less than 1% conversion rate
After 5,7 seconds: 0.6% conversion rate
After the 5 first seconds of load time, conversion rates drop by an average of 4.42% with each additional second

page-speed-stats Sources: Cloudflare, Hubspot

Conversion rate is one of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that the entire e-commerce team should keep track of, and constantly work to improve. As you can see from the numbers above, optimizing page load speed will pay off in terms of conversion rate, but the benefits don't stop there.

The Multiplier Effect on Traffic and Average Order Value

When you optimize your website to load faster, you are also pleasing Google in terms of search engine ranking. Page load time is a variable in the ranking algorithm, so the faster the page loads, the higher your site will rank in Google searches. This means that you will also get more traffic to your site. More traffic AND higher conversion rates are a lucrative combination for any e-tailer.

But there's still more benefit. The reason for higher conversion rates when pages load faster boils down to a better user experience. And the better the user experience on a site, the more they are willing to stay there, leading to a decrease in bounce rate. The modern consumer has no patience at all, time is precious. But if pages load really fast, and don't test visitors' patience, they will spend time on more product pages - and put more products in their shopping cart. This is why page load time also affects the Average Order Value.

The faster the page loads, the higher your site will rank in Google searches.

Technical Performance vs Perceived Performance

On the topic of user experience on desktop and mobile sites, let’s remember that great technical performance doesn't always correlate to a great user experience. It’s very easy to be blinded by raw numbers and only measure raw response times from the server, and nothing else. But performance is not just an IT thing.

You need to take a holistic view, and consider the perceived performance for the end user. The time it takes for a database query to be completed can be really short, but the developer might have injected three versions of a Javascript library that completely slows down the site, so the perceived performance is terrible for the end user.

In short: make UX and a solid architecture a priority, to make sure that your site is optimized for your customers, and not only for Google's algorithms.

Improve Your UX & Web Design ➡️

How Do You Use KPIs to Define Your E-Commerce Strategy?

The metrics we mention above, Conversion Rate, Traffic and Average Order Value should be the guiding stars in the daily operations of your entire e-commerce team. You can use these KPIs to decide on tactics, set the goals for a new e-commerce project and help you decide if new trends are relevant to your specific business goals. But how do you do that? Find out in our webinar about e-commerce KPIs 👇

Webinar

It's all about the KPIs

Learn how to set your strategy, track improvements towards your goals and define the most relevant tactics to take you there, in our webinar about KPIs.