According to new research, online shoppers in the UK show little forgiveness towards e-commerce sites that offer poor navigation, slow performance or unsatisfactory check-out but reward those sites that perform well and use personalised marketing tactics.
The survey of 2,050 UK adults, carried out by Apptus and YouGov found that 52% of online shoppers said they would be likely to abandon a purchase due to slow performance, while 41% said they would leave a site before completing a transaction due to unsatisfactory check-put and payment functions.

Online shoppers are particularly critical of poor navigation and search functions, with 55% of online shoppers surveyed stating that they would click away from sites where they had planned to make a purchase if they were unable to navigate and find the product they want. The lack of a good search function was also high on the list of gripes, according to 38% of shoppers.

Apptus vp of marketing David Davies said: "After 15 years of e-commerce, UK consumers are setting a high bar for the online shopping experience. They will punish poor performance in areas like search and navigation, while 70% admit to rewarding relevant, well-targeted offers and recommendations. With three out of four UK adults online shopping online or browsing at least once a month, there is a huge opportunity for retailers who respond to these demands using the next generation of e-commerce technologies."

Successful marketing techniques include relevant promotional offers, which 45% admitted to responding to and smart recommendations tactics, with 28% influenced by a prompt to buy a more expensive alternative and 17% by being shown what complements items that are already in their basket.

Mr Davies added: "The best, most profitable websites are the ones that create relevant and highly usable shopping experiences. They deliver simple, easy to use navigation, search and recommendations, and customise what the user sees and is offered. They do what a traditional sales assistant would have done, offering them a personal service tailored to their likes and needs."