Do you want to keep your users happy and purchasing? You’ve got a mere 4 seconds.

According to research done by Akamai, your website must load within 4 seconds otherwise the customer will abandon the site.

The report also notes:

The consequences for an online retailer whose site underperforms include diminished goodwill, negative brand perception, and, most important, significant loss in overall sales.

Another lesson learned is that a site can’t be too fast. The faster the page loads, the better the customer response. Even differences like a half second make an impression.

You better think twice about tons of flashy graphics and AJAX scripts. This is truly the instant gratification generation.