In recent years, consumers have got used to everything happening fast online. More content and products––not to mention advertisements––are available than ever. Because of this, the patience of the average internet user has grown shorter; If loading the page takes a long time, the user will leave without waiting for it to finish loading.
Even a small delay in an online store leads to a decrease in sales. If making purchases isn’t fast, easy and convenient enough, customers will leave the page the page and abandon their shopping cart.
From the store owner’s perspective it is vital to pay attention to loading speeds.
Every fraction of a second counts
Consumers are so used to fast internet connections and online stores that even a tiny delay may lead to more abandoned shopping carts.
You can think about it from your own perspective: How long are you willing to wait for a page to load before you leave? The answer naturally depends on the content of the page or how important a product you are in the process of buying. The rule of thumb, however, is that a slower page always leads to decreased sales.
How do you speed up your online store?
The most important thing is that the platform itself is fast.
If you are using an online store that is built on WordPress, you should pay attention to the number and the quality of your plugins. Some themes and plugins may slow the store down significantly. If you have a reason to suspect that a certain plugins is causing delays, simply disable it for a moment. Test the store without the plugin and you will see if it has an effect.
Here, the rule of thumb is that the number of plugins should be kept to a minimum. You should also keep them running smoothly by making sure they are updated regularly.
Large photos and visual elements may slow the store down
In a modern online store it is important that the pictures that are used are of high quality. On the other hand, you need to pay attention to how fast and its pictures load. Your customers will not wait around for a picture to load, no matter how good the picture is. They will simply move on. That is why you should try to keep pictures as small as possible in terms of bytes.
Videos and other visual elements may also cause delays in loading times. You should always consider carefully whether using such elements is necessary, because modern users prefer sites that are easy to use.
Possible redirects may also slow down the store. That is why all files that the store needs should always be kept on the platform’s own server.