Need for Speed: The Impact of In-Process Delays on Customer Behavior in Online Retail

Abstract

Online retail has become more prominent around the world in the last decade. As a result, online retailers' website performance is increasingly important. Previous literature has extensively studied customer sensitivity to service speed and wait times in offline services. In “Need for Speed: The Impact of In-Process Delays on Customer Behavior in Online Retail,” Gallino, Karacaoglu, and Moreno extend this literature to online retail. They study the impact of delays in online retail on customer behavior. They estimate sizable negative effects of website slowdowns on online sales and conversion rates. Moreover, they explore how customer sensitivity to online delays varies throughout customers' shopping journeys. They find that the impact of waiting times varies along the different stages of the shopping journey, with customers becoming more sensitive to slowdowns at the checkout stage. Their findings have implications for website design decisions. This research is especially relevant in the current regulatory environment with ongoing policy debates about net neutrality.