This cartoon idea was suggested by Brian Fung, reacting to some interesting Google research on how even a one-second delay affects bounce rates. Google found that as page load time goes from 1s to 3s, the probability of bounce increases 32%. As it goes from 1s to 5s, the probability of bounce increases 90%.
Brian questioned how much had do to with the quality of the traffic and wrote “In my mind’s eye I am envisioning an awesome Tom Fishburne Marketoonist comic titled ‘The Reality of Page Load Times’” and described a physical shopper abandoning her cart. Thanks, Brian, cartoon granted!
Given how much time and effort marketers spend to get consumers engaged enough to consider a purchase, it’s amazing how a purchase can be derailed by something as basic as page load times.
Abandoned shopping carts are a massive case in point. Even after going through the process of filling a shopping cart, it is estimated that 50% to 80% of carts are abandoned at checkout. 47% of shoppers want sites to load within 2 seconds and a slow web site can result in cart abandonment rates as high as 75%. 64% of shoppers won’t return if a site takes too long to load.
This underscores how marketers no longer have a captive audience, and relates to a conclusion I found interesting from earlier Google research: “People are more loyal to their needs in the moment than they are to any particular brand.” So as marketers, we need to stay ruthlessly focused on how to deliver on those needs in the moment. Even when the moment is measured in seconds.
Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years:
“Showrooming” January 2013
“The Future of E-Commerce” February 2018
“Retail Loyalty” January 2012
Raymond Wong says
September 16, 2019 at 9:23 amI left Walmart many times in the evening hours because only two cashiers were available with 5 to 6 people deep in each line, AND the self-checkout was closed. Your cartoon captures exactly how I felt.
Allen Roberts says
September 16, 2019 at 3:51 pmTom,
Your cartoon applies way more widely than to load times.
The automatic assumption of instant gratification pervades everything we are doing, seemingly replacing in many cases, good manners, common sense and just a little bit of patience and personal serenity.
Justin says
September 16, 2019 at 4:09 pmOne of the reasons i might leave a site at the checkout stage is due to not being able to find out what the delivery costs until that time. Many sites won’t tell you until the last step in the purchase.
Brian F says
September 17, 2019 at 8:54 amI do this all the time as well. It’s a pain point that I am surprised isn’t solved yet through UX design.