Why Your Site Needs to Be Fast
It’s no secret that a consistently fast ecommerce site with a great UX makes shoppers happy. It’s also no surprise that happy shoppers are more likely to convert. But sometimes, it is a surprise that the very 3rd party technologies online brands use to create an awesome shopper experience (i.e. personalization, ratings and reviews, video, etc.), account for 75% of page load delays.
It’s been well documented that when ecommerce sites slow down, shoppers leave. In fact, 50% of shoppers will leave after waiting 3 seconds. The good news is that the 3rd parties slowing down your page loads can be optimized for performance, and don’t need to be taken off your site to speed it up.
Together, with our partners at Yottaa, we have gathered our top speed strategies to get your site to optimal performance.
SPEED STRATEGY #1
Keep Page Speed Consistent
Due to the complexity of today’s ecommerce sites, the average online shopper has a 50% chance of visiting a slow loading page. Inconsistent page load times often result in shoppers abruptly ending their sessions, which lowers conversions and leaves negative consumer impressions of a brand.
Ecommerce acceleration technology not only enables online brands to significantly improve site performance by dramatically speeding up page load times, it also optimizes 3rd party technologies, and the delivery of rich imagery and content that drive engaging shopper experiences. All while ensuring that site traffic is fully secure.
SPEED STRATEGY #2
Get Full Visibility into 3rd Party Performance
The average ecommerce site has over 40 3rd party technologies and brands often have little or no visibility into 3rd party inventory or how they are impacting site performance. An ecommerce acceleration tool can help you gain full visibility of all services executing on your site, and review and evaluate existing and new 3rd parties to ensure you have the right mix of technologies both in terms of shopper functionality and performance impact.
When you know which technologies are on your site, you can optimize them for speed. This includes:
- Optimizing the order that 3rd parties are executed on your site
- Controlling 3rd party performance and managing compliance for each browser, device, and personalized interaction
- Automatically optimizing new 3rd parties added to your site to improve scalability and allow brands to have all the 3rd parties they need AND a fast performing site
SPEED STRATEGY #3
Detect and Remediate Site Performance Anomalies
A performance anomaly is a sustained spike in website performance that’s outside the normal expected variation for that page. In other words, it is an unusual delay in page performance. The visibility an ecommerce acceleration solution enables can help you easily identify anomalies, determine their root cause, and understand whether the problem is systemic or unique to your site.
SITE PERFORMANCE CASE STUDY
Life is Good
In 1994, after five years of less-than-stellar sales and just $78 left to their names, brothers Bert and John Jacobs designed their first Life is Good t-shirt —and discovered how those three simple words could help people to focus on the good. Over the years, Life is Good has expanded its product line from T-shirts and caps to a full line of apparel for men, women, and children, as well as an increasing number of accessories categories. Today, the brand offers over 900 different items in 14 categories, sold online via the company’s website, and in approximately 4,500 retail stores in the U.S., and 30 countries around the world. Life is Good is headquartered in Boston, MA.
“In evaluating Yottaa, we set very aggressive site speed and conversion goals to justify the investment. Working closely with our digital agency, PixelMEDIA, Yottaa easily beat those goals and provided additional value around security and visibility into the performance of all site elements.”
– Tom Hassell, Vice President of Ecommerce
The Challenge
Much of Life is Good’s tremendous success comes from the strong relationships the brand has built with its customers. From the start, the company has received rave reviews from customers who found strength, simple wisdom, or a much-needed laugh in its products. However, one area where customer interaction was sub-optimal was Life is Good’s website, which had slow page load times. With a small technical team and multiple ongoing internal projects to drive digital growth, the brand decided to evaluate external digital optimization solutions to speed up its site and enhance online customer experiences.
The Solution
Following a recommendation from Pixel, Life is Good began a trial of Yottaa’s Super Accelerator, an ecommerce acceleration solution that enables brands to speed up their sites through full-page caching, content transformation, and optimal traffic management. During the trial, Life is Good experienced tremendous results including a 30% speed increase and 2.4% conversion lift. In addition, Super Accelerator provided the retailer the ability to add more 3rd parties to its site to further drive digital growth, as well as much tighter security controls.
How to Get Started
Following these speed strategies can help you begin to optimize your customer journey from the first touch on your site. Site performance on Commerce Cloud is not difficult to remediate with the right partner and tools. At Pixel, we know ecommerce on Salesforce and work with partners like Yottaa to enable your commerce to accelerate at peak performance. As you advance your ecommerce goals for 2021, consider benchmarking your site performance with a FREE Site Performance Snapshot.
