Website performance issues cost eCommerce businesses 10 percent of revenue

A new survey of 200 UK ecommerce leaders at enterprise organizations with more than £10m ($11.5m) revenue reveals that, on average, businesses lost 10 percent in revenue due to downtime and website performance issues in the last two years.

This is despite increased investment, with 48 percent of respondents saying their spending on eCommerce solutions has increased in the last two years, according to the study by enterprise software company Box UK.

But the majority (88 percent) of are concerned that these investments are creating technical debt that will impact their ability to be agile and innovative in the future. When asked, respondents estimate their current eCommerce infrastructure will become outdated within as little as two and a half years.

"Ecommerce was already transforming, but businesses have condensed three to four years of digital transformation into a matter of months. Many will pay the price from this rapid 'kneejerk' digitalization without a clear strategy for delivery," says Allie Brock, head of ecommerce at Box UK. "As more services move online, the impact of poor digital performance is more significant. While a business might be able to absorb a 10 percent loss as a one-off, it's simply not sustainable over time. Despite high levels of investment, most businesses are not yet realising value from the solutions they have invested in and are poorly placed to take advantage of future trends. Given the uncertainty currently surrounding the global economy, companies must ensure their investments help to build greater resiliency to external events while allowing them to keep innovating."

Among other findings, 72 percent say they're frustrated by the speed they can make changes to their existing eCommerce platform, such as adding new functionality or integrating with third-party services. Businesses are also missing out on opportunities due to the limitations of their current ecommerce solutions that mean they can't automatically deploy in new locations or be easily amended. 90 percent of respondents say they find it challenging to deploy new eCommerce technologies simultaneously and easily across geographical locations.

"Many organizations quickly spun up an online channel in recent years, but failed to think about new investments in line with business strategy or with an eye on the future. Given that the pace of transformation will continue to accelerate, with new technologies -- from NFTs to the metaverse -- set to cause more upheaval, eCommerce businesses need to prepare now to maintain a competitive edge," adds Brock. "Businesses that remain reliant on monolithic and outdated architectures cannot integrate new features or make changes to their online operations at the speed required, and will continue to miss out on revenue opportunities."

The survey also finds that while 82 percent of businesses surveyed have experienced an increase in the number of security threats within the last two years, 36 percent fail to check the security of their eCommerce operations within a three-month window.

The full report is available from the Box UK site.

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