Store locator pages are essential for omnichannel retailers, helping online shoppers find nearby brick-and-mortar locations. But there’s a catch: the third-party map applications powering these features could be silently killing your site speed.
In a recent conversation, Yottaa’s Shawn O’Neill sat down with eCommerce expert Linda Bustos to unpack the performance impact of store locator maps and share what teams can do to balance functionality with speed.
The Bing Maps Problem
According to data from Yottaa’s 2025 Web Performance Index, Bing Maps dominates the store locator landscape with an 88% adoption rate across tracked eCommerce sites. However, Bing Maps receives a yellow Performance Impact Rating (PIR), indicating it may create slowdowns for shoppers.
While Google Maps, Mapbox, and other alternatives earn green PIR scores for minimal performance impact, the most widely adopted solution is ironically the worst offender. For eCommerce teams juggling conversion rates, Core Web Vitals, and shopper experience, this creates a difficult tradeoff between functionality and speed.
Best Practices for Store Locator Maps Performance
Shawn and Linda’s conversation offers actionable guidance for eCommerce and development leaders looking to optimize store locator pages without sacrificing the shopper experience:
Evaluate your current map provider. Just because a solution is widely adopted doesn’t mean it’s the right fit for your site. Use real user monitoring (RUM) data to measure how your current map application affects page load times and Core Web Vitals scores.
Consider alternatives with better performance profiles. The WPI data shows several map providers with green PIR scores, including Google Maps (22% adoption), Mapbox (7% adoption), and others. Switching providers can yield quick performance gains without changing the user experience.
Optimize loading and sequencing. If switching providers isn’t feasible, explore ways to delay or sequence map script loading so it doesn’t block critical page rendering. Performance optimization tools can help automate this process.
Monitor third-party impact continuously. Map applications are just one example of how third-party apps can drag down site performance. Continuous monitoring ensures your third-party tools, from personalization to analytics, don’t erode site speed or conversion rates.
Get the Full Story
Want to hear more insights from Shawn and Linda? Watch their full conversation.
And if you’re curious about how other third-party applications stack up, explore the full dataset in Yottaa’s Web Performance Index. You’ll find adoption rates and performance ratings for hundreds of third-party tools across the eCommerce technology stack. Explore the Web Performance Index now.
