---
title: "Portent: 1-second e-commerce sites convert 2.5x higher"
url: https://surfil.com/blog/portent-page-speed-conversion-rate-2022
section: reports
language: en
published: 2026-09-19T00:00:00.000Z
modified: 2026-09-19T00:00:00.000Z
author: Adam Hafez
topics: ["Technical SEO"]
---

# Portent: 1-second e-commerce sites convert 2.5x higher

## The short answer

Portent analyzed 5.6 million sessions across 20 B2B and B2C sites over 30 days. B2C e-commerce conversion rate fell from 3.05% at a 1-second load to 0.67% at 4 seconds, and Portent puts the 1-second versus 5-second gap at 2.5x. B2B lead-generation conversion was almost 40% at 1 second and 29% at 3 seconds, a 3x gap against 5 seconds.

## Key takeaways

- Portent's data covered just over 100 million page views and 5.6 million sessions across 20 B2B and B2C sites over a 30-day snapshot.
- B2C e-commerce conversion rate dropped from 3.05% at a 1-second load time to 0.67% at 4 seconds, and Portent reports a 2.5x difference between 1-second and 5-second loads.
- B2B lead-generation conversion rate was almost 40% at 1 second and 34% at 2 seconds, and Portent reports it 3x higher at 1 second than at 5 seconds and 5x higher than at 10.
- The six e-commerce sites converted far less often than the fourteen lead-generation sites, since a purchase is a higher barrier than submitting contact information.
- Portent flags its B2C data in the 10-second range as thinner than the rest, since it had fewer pages to work with at that load time.

Portent, a digital agency, went back to a question it has revisited across several years of
its own data: does page load time actually move conversion rate, or is the relationship mostly
folklore repeated from one blog post to the next. Its April 2022 analysis pulled from 20 of its
sites and found conversion rate dropping steadily as load time rose, in both directions
of its dataset.

## What did the aggregate data show

Portent split its sample into 6 B2C e-commerce sites and 14 B2B lead-generation sites, then
compared conversion by load time. For e-commerce, conversion
rate fell from 3.05% at a 1-second load to 1.68% at 2 seconds, 1.12% at 3 seconds, and 0.67% at 4
seconds. Portent's text places the 0.67% at 4 seconds, so its 2.5x multiplier against 5 seconds
cannot be reproduced from the published rates. Lead-generation sites moved from almost 40% at 1
second to 34% at 2 seconds and 29% at 3 seconds, and Portent reports a 3x gap against 5 seconds
and a 5x gap against 10 seconds, which imply about 13% and 8%.

| Load time | B2C conversion rate | B2B conversion rate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 second | 3.05% | ~40% |
| 2 seconds | 1.68% | ~34% |
| 3 seconds | 1.12% | ~29% |
| 4 seconds | 0.67% | not reported |
| 5 seconds | not reported | ~13% (implied) |
| 10 seconds | not reported | ~8% (implied) |

Portent's own write-up is direct about the shape of the curve: "a site that loads in 1 second has
a conversion rate 3x higher than a site that loads in 5 seconds" for B2B, and "2.5x higher than a
site that loads in 5 seconds" for B2C e-commerce.

## Why B2C and B2B sit so far apart

The two conversion curves fall at similar rates proportionally, but their absolute levels are not
close. Portent attributes that gap to what counts as a conversion in each case: "goal conversions
on websites are generally achieved at a higher rate than e-commerce conversions," since a form
fill is a lower-effort action than a completed purchase. That framing matters for anyone
comparing this report against a different one. A retailer benchmarking against the roughly 40%
B2B figure would be comparing against the wrong curve entirely; the e-commerce numbers, topping
out under 4% even at a 1-second load, are the relevant comparison.

Portent also flags a limit in its own dataset rather than smoothing over it: the B2C data in the
10-second range rests on a smaller sample of pages than the faster loads. For B2C it reports only
a 1.5x gap against 10 seconds, not a rate, and this piece follows that same boundary rather than
filling the gap.

## Why we care

**Speed has barely moved since 2019.** In the sample, 82% of B2B pages and 86% of B2C pages loaded
in 5 seconds or less. B2B was unchanged from Portent's 2019 run, and B2C rose from 81%.

**Site type changes what "good" looks like.** A team running an e-commerce checkout should not
benchmark its conversion rate against a lead-generation site's, and should not expect the same
percentage-point stakes. The multiplier, not the absolute rate, is the number worth carrying into
a business case for a performance budget.

## Common questions

### How many sites and sessions did Portent actually analyze?

20 sites, 6 B2C e-commerce and 14 B2B lead-generation, covering just over 100 million page views and more than 27,000 landing pages. Page load speed specifically was measured across 5.6 million sessions gathered over a 30-day window.

### Why is the B2B conversion rate so much higher than B2C in this data?

Portent's own explanation is the barrier to completion. A B2B goal conversion is usually a form fill, "a simple exchange of contact information," while a B2C conversion is a completed purchase. That gap in effort, not load time alone, explains why B2B rates sit near 40% at their best while B2C tops out near 3%.

## Sources

1. [Site Speed is (Still) Impacting Your Conversion Rate](https://portent.com/blog/analytics/research-site-speed-hurting-everyones-revenue.htm) - Portent (primary)