Webarrassment continues: More than a third of e-commerce businesses are embarrassed by their website despite spending an average of $550,688    on marketing technology

• Level of embarrassment is only 12% less than two years ago - despite marketing spend increasing by an average of $97,500
• Survey of 300 business leaders in the US and Europe finds that poor website user experience costs $94.5k in lost sales per year - up from $72k in 2023 
• Website error fixing and maintenance wastes an average of 4.9 hours per week (up from 4) - with 11% of businesses spending more than 10 hours per week (up from 8%)
• Nearly two-fifths (39%) of European businesses are embarrassed by their website – compared to 30% of their US counterparts
• Yet European businesses waste 4.5 hours per week fixing website failings - compared to a significantly higher 5.8 hours per week for US companies 

London, UK; 25th March 2025: Storyblok, the headless CMS for brands that want to make a bigger, faster market impact, today announced research that reveals that companies are losing an increasingly large sum of money each year due to poor website experience despite spending a substantial amount on marketing technology. 

300 senior business leaders at large and mid-sized e-commerce companies in the US and Europe were asked a range of questions about their company’s website performance, accessibility, and marketing technology costs. 

Surprisingly, 36% of businesses said their website had recently embarrassed them in front of a key stakeholder or customer, however, 96% said their website met all or most of their expectations. These figures show little change since research Storyblok conducted in 2023 that revealed 48% of businesses were embarrassed by their website and 87% said their website met their expectations. 

Businesses invested, on average, $550,688     over the past five years, with 18% spending more than $1 million. Only 3% of businesses believe they receive a poor ROI on their marketing technology spend – compared to 6% in 2023. 

Despite soaring marketing technology budgets, the time taken to maintain websites continues to grow. In 2023, companies reported an average of 4 hours per week spent on routine tasks, but this has now grown to 4.9 hours with 11% reporting more than 10 hours spent. Interestingly, while 39% of European businesses are embarrassed by their websites compared to 30% in the US, they typically spend fewer hours (4.5) per week fixing issues compared to the US (5.8 hours). 

Revenue lost through poor website performance has grown from $72,000 in 2023 to $94,500 per year, with 16% of businesses estimating they lose more than $100,000.  Notably, European businesses are seeing the biggest financial impact with average estimated revenue losses of around $101,000 per year compared to an average of $80,500 for US businesses. 

For the first time, Storyblok also surveyed website accessibility, finding that 51% reported having at least some accessibility functionality for people with vision, hearing or mobility impairments. 23% reported having no accessibility functionality despite the European Accessibility Act - which comes into force at the end of June - requiring any company doing business with customers in the EU to provide accessible digital services.  

Dominik Angerer, CEO and Co-Founder of Storyblok, said: “When we conducted this research two years ago, we were surprised to find so many businesses were embarrassed by their website and believed it was losing them vast sums of money. What made it more puzzling is that the majority of businesses said they received good ROI on their marketing technology. Fast forward to today, and we are genuinely shocked to find the situation has become worse. Businesses are losing a lot more money, maintenance times are increasing, and costs are soaring. Yet, satisfaction with marketing solutions has increased. 

“To make sense of this research, we have to realize that many businesses do not understand that they can and should expect a lot more from their marketing tech. A new generation of composable architecture and solutions provides a much more cost and time-effective solution than inefficient legacy tech stacks that are increasingly unfit for their purpose. Nearly all the problems we uncovered in this research would be solved if business leaders raised their expectations and embraced modern marketing technology.”

Note

Storyblok conducted the survey of 300 business leaders and executives with OnePoll. The survey ran between the 3rd and 7th of March 2025.

Resources

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About Storyblok

Storyblok is a headless CMS for marketers and developers who want to make a bigger, faster market impact. It frees you from the pain of legacy CMS platforms and empowers your teams to ship content quickly and build with complete flexibility. 

Legendary brands like Adidas, T-Mobile, and Renault use Storyblok to make content management fun and collaborative. It’s Joyful Headless and it changes everything.