Comparison engine Uswitch has analysed British consumers’ perceptions of slow websites and tested the sites of top supermarket brands, including Asda, AmazonFresh, and Marks & Spencers. All sites were scored on how quickly they become ‘interactive’ (a higher score means a faster website) – the point when enough of the page has loaded that you can click a link.
Co-op comes out on top as the fastest overall supermarket online with a score of 83 out of 100. Asda takes 2nd place (74) and new market contender AmazonFresh (73) comes in at 3rd.
At the other end of the scale are Aldi, Waitrose and Iceland, the slowest of the supermarkets overall, with Iceland scoring only 31 out of 100 in desktop tests. Waitrose scored a very low score of 29 on mobile and Aldi scored 36 overall.
Frustration and Impatience Concerns For Top Supermarket Brands
- 80% of consumers say they feel frustrated and annoyed when they visit a slow website
- 29% of the population would wait 10 seconds or less for a website page to fully load before leaving the site
- A further 30% of people would only be willing to wait between 11 and 30 seconds for a website to load
However, Google’s user behaviour report shows the reality is most will only wait 3 seconds before bouncing off the site. Studies have shown that just 100ms of latency cost businesses 1% in sales.
Consumers Think Slow Websites Are Less Secure
- More than 1 in 3 Brits think slow websites are less secure (36%) and less trustworthy (35%)
- Almost half of people think their money payments are less likely to go through on a slow website
- 1 in 4 think their transactions will likely go through multiple times
Brand Repercussions of Poor Speeds
- Slow websites aren’t good for business, with over half of people saying they wouldn’t purchase from a slow website
- Over half of consumers would judge a brand negatively for having a slow website
- 71% of consumers would visit a competitor site instead, with 1 in 4 stating they’d never return to the slow site again
- 76% wouldn’t recommend a slow website to a friend
It was recently reported that three-quarters of the UK are now doing some form grocery shopping online. Therefore, supermarket brands need to ensure they create a great website user experience to remain relevant in a crowded market.
You can read the full study here
