Which is the most valuable asset? Probably time. There is much talk of the shopping experience but actually, with the approach of the festive season and streets, shopping centres and retail stores increasingly crowded, going shopping is stressful and no one wants to waste time. This is why the strategies implemented by retailers and large-scale distribution are increasingly requested and appreciated, from self-check out to self-scanning. And then there is the big issue of payment by smartphone which can also save a few seconds. All expedients that in particularly hectic periods can make all the difference when choosing where to shop.

Less obvious is to think that also e-commerce is subject to the same rules, as demonstrated by the infographics below, the result of a Dynatrace survey of 2000 American consumers on the performance of websites. Nine out of ten surfers expect the “robustness” of websites not to be affected during periods of heavy traffic, 61% complained of having had a negative experience browsing the website of a retailer and 75% of these went directly to a competitor’s website. In short, the conclusion is this: the customer is increasingly less patient (as many as 46% will desist if a website or an app doesn’t load within 3 seconds) and retailers would do well take this into due account, both on and off line.