AI Commerce Cloud

Why Performance matters: The impact on eCommerce sales

Updated:

21.3.2025

The success of an online store largely depends on a positive user experience, and performance plays a key role in that. Page load speed directly affects conversions, customer satisfaction, and search engine visibility. In this article, we discuss the importance of performance for both B2B and B2C eCommerce, including how external scripts (plugins, integrations) can slow down loading times and thus impact sales.

1. Faster site = more sales

Multiple studies show that every extra second in page load time significantly reduces conversions. The faster users can access products and checkout, the more likely they are to complete their purchase. For example, Google’s PageSpeed Insights team emphasizes that even a difference of a few hundred milliseconds can be a decisive factor compared to competing services.

Google found that slowing down a page by just 0.5 seconds reduced traffic by 20% in their tests.

Source: Google – “Speed Matters”

Akamai reported that adding 2 seconds to load time can increase bounce rate by up to 50%.

Source: Akamai Online Retail Performance Report

Portent (2022) found that sites that load in 1 second convert 3x better on average than those that load in 5 seconds.

Source: Portent – Website Speed Case Study

Tip: Focus especially on the first load of the homepage and product pages, as well as checkout performance. These are the moments that most affect the user’s purchase decision.

Source: Google PageSpeed Insights

The table below shows typical plugins and performance bottlenecks in other platforms (such as Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce – where core functionalities are often implemented with separate extensions).

Add-on / Plugin

Estimated Cost (Over 3 Country Domains, €/month)

Load Time Impact

Cookie banner / GDPR (Cookiebot, OneTrust)

~80–150 €

+200–400 ms

Review app (Trustpilot, Yotpo)

~300–800 €

+100–300 ms

Search tool
(Klevu, Algolia)

300–800 €

+100–300 ms

International sales (Weglot etc.)

~180–300 €

+150–400 ms

B2B wholesale pricing (e.g. Bold)

~80–200 €

+100–200 ms

EU VAT validation (Exemptify, Vatify)

~20–80 €

+50–100 ms

Invoicing & payment terms (Pay by Invoice, Net Terms)

~50–120 €

+50–100 ms

Customer group management (Locksmith)

~30–80 €

+50–100 ms

Advanced shipping (Advanced Shipping etc.)

~80–200 €

+50–100 ms

Chat / customer service (Intercom, Zendesk)

~100–300 €

+100–300 ms

Email marketing (Klaviyo, Mailchimp Pro)

~120–400 €

+50–200 ms

Complex product configurations, rule-based E (CPQ)

~300–1000 €

+100–300 ms

Bulk ordering from list view (B2B Bulk Order)

~50–150 €

+50–100 ms

Request for quote functionality (Cart2Quote)

~100–300 €

+100–300 ms

Total: 14 items

Estimated total cost: ~€1790–4880/month

Estimated total load time impact: 1.35–3.5 seconds

2. Every external script slows down Page Load

A large part of eCommerce website slowness comes from individual external scripts—such as plugins, third-party chat or analytics services, or marketing tracking scripts. As your site grows, the number of scripts typically multiplies.

Akamai research has shown that each new JavaScript injection can add 100–300 ms to page rendering. Similar findings can be found in Cloudflare’s documentation. A common rule of thumb is that every external JavaScript request can increase load time by 50–400 ms.

“As the number of scripts grows, DOM processing and CSS rendering also slow down, creating a snowball effect that impacts overall site performance.”

Source: Cloudflare: What Is Latency?

3. Performance matters even more in B2B eCommerce

B2B eCommerce often involves large product catalogs, multiple integration partners (ERP, PIM, payment providers), and several languages or country domains. This significantly increases the number of scripts and the volume of data being processed. However, even in B2B, users expect the same smooth experience as in consumer eCommerce.

Fast navigation: A large product range must not make the site heavy or difficult to browse.
Real-time stock availability: Integrations with inventory systems require API calls that may slow down the site if not optimized.
Multilingual and multi-currency support: Each feature is often implemented as a separate add-on, adding more code to the page.

4. How to maintain < 100 ms Load Times with large product catalogs?

Page speed directly impacts eCommerce conversion rates, user experience, and SEO visibility. Especially in large-scale B2B stores, add-ons, integrations, and the complexity of managing extensive product data can significantly slow down your site.

Option 1: Choose AI Commerce Cloud

Forget the trade-off between eCommerce development and performance. AI Commerce Cloud maintains load times under 100 milliseconds—even with over 100,000 products and operations across 50 market regions.

Performance Score: 100 - Speed page insight

Option 2: Spend hundreds or thousands monthly on Speed Optimization

On many platforms, performance issues are tied to the core architecture. Bottlenecks often can’t be resolved without major development effort. Optimization demands ongoing investments, including:

Code bundling and minification
Combine and compress JavaScript and CSS files to reduce the number of resources loaded.
Lazy loading
Defer loading of third-party scripts until absolutely necessary.
Avoiding redundant plugins
Use built-in, multifunctional features instead of stacking multiple external add-ons.
Leveraging a CDN
Content Delivery Networks like Cloudflare help accelerate load times globally.
Continuous performance tracking and tuning
Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, Lighthouse, and WebPageTest to monitor and resolve performance issues.

Summary:

AI Commerce Cloud is built for high-volume and international eCommerce—without compromising usability or control. The choice is yours: built-in performance or continuous optimization? Want to know more, get in touch!

How traditional eCommerce platforms limit B2B growth

Single market

Multiple markets

Global scalability

Traditional monolithic platforms like Shopify, Magento, or WooCommerce are built for single-market use and rely heavily on add-ons for payments, invoicing, logistics, B2B pricing, compliance, and user management. This leads to increased system complexity, slower performance, and growing reliance on external integration partners — especially when ERP, CRM, or PIM systems are involved.