Study: Fast, available web, mobile and native apps top holiday wish lists

Frustrating digital experiences will land brands on the naughty list this holiday season.



In fact, 81% of frequent online shoppers said they have previously been frustrated with slow-loading websites, mobile sites or native mobile apps, with over three-quarters (76%) saying if a retailer’s web site or mobile site performs poorly they tend to avoid shopping there again.



These sobering details were shared in a study from Catchpoint that interviewed 2,064 U.S. adults Nov. 1-3, 2016. Sixty-seven percent (67%), or 1,361 consumers, of this group shop online at least once a month.



Half (50%) of these frequent online shoppers said they are less likely to visit a retailer’s brick-and-mortar store if they have a negative experience shopping on its website or mobile app. And these negative experiences come in many flavors.



For example, more than one in five (21%) said they will wait no longer than five seconds for a web site, mobile site or mobile app to load before abandoning the page. Meanwhile, 79% said they would abandon the checkout process if it took two minutes or more to attempt to complete a transaction, the study said.



There is an opportunity for redemption, however. Thirty-three percent (33%) prefer to shop with retailers that offer a mobile app over ones that only have a website or mobile site. Meanwhile, half said they would be willing to wait longer than usual during the checkout process if free shipping (65%), coupons (57%) or bargains (62%) were available, the study said.



“With more physical stores closing and more shopping moving online, consumers’ brand awareness of retailers is informed through their digital interactions,” comments Mehdi Daoudi, CEO and co-founder of Catchpoint, which helps companies monitor the performance of their digital assets. “A fast, always-available site strengthens brand perception, while patterns of slowness or unreliability have the opposite effect.”