So, recent research from TNS/Zeus Technology shows that 82% of UK online shoppers said that if a website performed badly it would dissuade them from buying goods from that organisation on the web or in store.

The survey was based on a sample of over 2,000 shoppers and shows that each of them will abandon around 5.5 online purchases every year due to poor website response times.

Load testing an application ensures that it will function correctly once it's in production. Testing answers the following questions simply and conclusively:

• Will my application fall apart under load?
• Will my pre-defined performance targets be met?
• How many simultaneous users can my Web site handle

Performance problems are common and have a wide variety of causes: