Research released today by Hostway and Zeus Technology, has shown that retailers are potentially losing up to £5.65 billion per year in lost sales. This is because consumers are abandoning online transactions due to poorly performing websites.  The survey of 2,033 consumers highlighted that on average they had abandoned 5.5 online transactions per person over the last 12 months. With recent figures showing that UK consumers were spending on average nearly £30 per transaction*, it is clear that retailers are still missing out on significant online revenues.

“Last year UK retail consumers spent £38bn online, yet it is clear that many people still have frustrations when shopping online,” commented Neil Barton, director at Hostway. “The research revealed that over two thirds of the respondents were wasting on average up to two and a half days a year reloading or waiting for web pages to load properly. With many of today’s websites containing a lot more multimedia content, it is important that consumers receive a good online experience otherwise they may simply abandon their transaction.”

The research also revealed that a massive 82% of consumers said that if a business’ website performed badly it would dissuade them from buying goods from that organisation on the web or even in store. This clearly demonstrates the importance of having a good online perception and the need for retailers to ensure their online customer experience is a positive one.