Nearly three quarters of Australians are more likely to make purchases from an online store that loads quickly, placing pressure on businesses to increase online performance, according to a new survey conducted by website acceleration tool, Squixa.

Squixa’s inaugural Internet Experience Survey found the majority of Australians expect a website to load in less than five seconds on desktop computers and tablets, despite retail, media and other online businesses increasingly using rich images and video content online. Fifty per cent of mobile users were also only willing to wait a few seconds.

The survey of 1250 Australians also found 43 per cent of people will immediately exit websites that load slowly, whether they are shopping online, reading the news, or looking at other content. Just one in five said they would revisit the site later.

“Website speed is often ignored or an afterthought for Australian online businesses, but it’s an absolutely critical component of online sales,” said Stewart McGrath, co-founder and CEO of Squixa.

“The survey results demonstrate that eyeballs and clicks will simply go elsewhere if websites aren’t living up to a customer’s expectations, in what is a highly competitive online environment.”

McGrath said that while some Australian website owners may consider load times of five to 15 seconds acceptable, the survey showed consumers were looking for faster and faster websites as broadband speeds increased.

“We are seeing huge spikes in the number of consumers visiting online retail stores from mobile devices. While Australians may think longer wait times are due to poor wireless internet connection, the reality for website owners is that the construction of their site is often causing delays,” McGrath said. 

Survey respondents were equally divided on whether they noticed a difference in the load speeds of Australian versus international websites. If international websites were slower to load, however, respondents largely said this itself would not impact their decision to purchase locally or internationally.

“Retailers are already up against fierce international competition. They really should be focusing on creating the best customer experience they can online,” McGrath said. 

“Modern online consumers are savvy – they increasingly understand the causes behind slow web pages. It might only be a second or two, but both the risks and benefits for brands are real and tangible when it comes to website performance.”

The Squixa Internet Experience Survey was conducted among a sample size of 1250 Australians by AnswerCrowd.