Storyblok: E-commerce report 2023

It doesn’t take consumers long at all to decide whether they’ll stay on an e-commerce site. In fact, for some, the decision is almost immediate.

After surveying 6,000 consumers in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, Storyblok found that about one-fifth of consumers take five seconds or less to decide whether to stay or leave when visiting a new e-commerce site. Of these, 6% make their decision in less than a second.

Most people (60%) make a decision within 30 seconds, indicating that "first impressions are crucial." Previous studies have found that brand loyalty is formed by first impressions, and brand quality and image are the most important factors affecting brand loyalty.

In the study, 65% of respondents said the biggest factor influencing respondents when buying products online was ease of navigation. Quick decision making and fast loading speeds were key, with half of people (51%) citing this as a deciding factor in their purchasing process. Visual appeal (50%) and simple design (45%) were also influential factors.

As for the reasons for not buying products from a website, uncompetitive prices are the most common, followed by limited payment options, poor navigation or website layout, and slow loading speeds. Speed ​​is critical to the online customer experience, and 7 in 10 marketers (73%) say improving page loading speeds is an urgent need.

Finally, approximately 40% of consumers surveyed said that a mixed reality (VR/AR) purchasing experience would encourage them to make a purchase; among U.S. respondents, that number was much higher, at nearly 60%.