Why Website Speed Is Important for New AI Shopping
Online shopping is changing fast. Now, autonomous agents, called AI agents, can shop for people. These helpers find, compare, and buy products all by themselves. This is called agentic commerce.
For these AI helpers to work well, websites need to be fast and stable. If a website is slow or keeps breaking, the AI helpers might not show its products to shoppers. This means the website could lose visitors and sales. Experts like Moz and Search Engine Journal say it’s very important to make websites work well for both people and AI helpers (Moz Blog, Search Engine Journal).
Also, search tools on websites help shoppers find what they want quickly. But these tools only work well if the website is fast and reliable. Studies show people who use good search on a website are more likely to buy something (Neil Patel Blog, Smashing Magazine).
So, having a fast and steady website is not just a tech thing—it’s very important for business success today.
The Problem: Many Websites Are Too Slow
Even though speed is so important, many websites are still slow or have problems. Slow websites make visitors unhappy and can cause them to leave. This also hurts how well the website shows up in search results.
What We Found
We analyzed the front page of 481 websites. Here’s what we saw:
- Failing Performance (Grade F): 272 websites (over 56%) received a failing grade, indicating serious issues that negatively impact user experience and SEO.
- Top Performance (Grade A): Only 21 websites (about 4%) achieved the highest grade, reflecting excellent speed and optimization.
- Moderate Performance (Grades B, C, D):
- 45 websites scored a B, showing good performance but with room for improvement.
- 71 websites scored a C, indicating average performance.
- 72 websites scored a D, reflecting poor performance that requires attention.
This shows many websites need to get faster and better.
The Invisible 5% of the Web
While running the analysis, we noticed something surprising. A small but stubborn group of websites refused to load—no matter how long we waited. After 120 seconds, our system automatically moved on. About 5% of all URLs failed this way. It was like watching doors that never opened, no matter how many times you knocked.
Now, imagine an AI system like GPT or an autonomous shopping agent encountering those same sites. It wouldn’t wait around either—it would simply skip them and move on to faster, more accessible options.
In other words, for these sites, it’s not just that humans never see them—AI won’t either. And in a future where discovery and decision-making depend on AI agents, that’s the digital equivalent of locking your store doors during business hours.
About WarpInsights: A Tool to Help Fix Website Speed
WarpInsights is a tool in development that is designed to help website owners to check how Google rates their website to determine how well their websites are working. It looks at important things like how fast pages load and how easy the site is to use.
What makes WarpInsights special is that it talks to you in plain English. You don’t need to be a tech expert to understand the results. You can ask questions and get clear answers about your website’s speed.
Here’s how it works:
- You give it one website, a list of websites, or a sitemap.
- It checks each site/url and gathers important speed data.
- It gives you an easy-to-read CSV file with all the data points.
- This simplified format is ideal to be able to import to your environment.
- You get a clear report that shows what’s good and what needs fixing.
- You can even ask questions about your data to learn more.
WarpInsights makes it simple to understand and improve your website’s speed.
How to Make Your Website Faster
Here are some easy ways to make your website better:
- Clean up your code: Remove any extra CSS or JavaScript that you don’t need.
- Fix slow-loading parts: Make sure important styles load fast and delay the less important ones.
- Make images smaller: Use modern formats like WebP to keep images light.
- Speed up your server: Use caching and content delivery networks (CDNs) to make your site load faster.
- Keep checking: Use tools like WarpInsights regularly to find and fix new problems.
Conclusion
Our study shows that many websites need to get faster to keep up with new AI shopping helpers and to make visitors happy. Fixing website speed is one of the best ways to improve your business online.
If you want a free check of your website and tips on how to make it faster, just send me your website address!
A Note from the Author
I’m David, the creator of WarpInsights.
When I saw how many websites failed to load in our tests, it hit me that this isn’t just a technical issue—it’s a visibility issue.
If your site can’t load for humans or for AI, it’s effectively invisible.
And the problem only compounds when you’re running an e-commerce site with hundreds or even thousands of product pages. Each slow or broken page becomes another missed opportunity—another door that never opens.
That’s exactly why I built WarpInsights: to make sure every business can be seen, understood, and found—by both people and the intelligent systems shaping the future of online shopping.
