Four out five of consumers dissuaded by slow websites

15:20 2nd March 2010

A whopping 82 per cent of consumers have said that badly-performing websites deter them from purchasing products from that company online or in store, a new study has found.

According to the research, which was commissioned by web hosting company Hostway and web acceleration software supplier Zeus Technology and carried out by independent research company TNS, UK retailers could face losses of £5.65 billion a year if their website frustrates online customers because it is too slow.

"Online traffic will continue to grow, so it is important that retailers ensure that websites are scalable enough to cope with large visitor numbers and large amounts of multimedia content," said Graham Moore, e-retail specialist at Zeus Technology.

In other news, shoppers using their credit cards to shop online are exposed to fraud, an expert has said.

"What we have seen since the introduction of chip and pin is a reduction of card cloning and card skimming on transactions in high street shops," said Sarah Blaney, card fraud expert at life assistance company CPP.

Written by Derek Oldman

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