So when it comes to an online shopping race, who's going to win? Let's take a look at the hare and the tortoise.

Barnes and Noble-- CLICK

It wants customers in and out fast. How does BN do it? By eliminating two steps in the purchase process.

Steps two and three are combined as just one step. Whenever you add an item to your shopping cart you're also reviewing your shopping cart.

If you're one of the millions of AOL users, step five can be eliminated. With its AOL Quick Checkout, Barnes and Noble automatically pulls your address and payment information from your AOL account.

Combined, both actions bring the purchase process down from seven steps to five.

SecondTime.com-- CLUNK

If you're looking for one of the most painful experiences in e-commerce, head straight to Secondtime.com. This kids clothing site is a disaster. It's packed with unnecessary steps. First, the never-ending pages of products. Why categorize socks, shirts, and hats on different pages when you can put them all on one page? Once the page finally loads (I had to wait on my T1 connection) select the products you want. Hope you don't want more than one. Quantity is not an option. Looking for the checkout button. It's at the end of the page. Now enter your address but no credit card information. Click "Check Out" and it promises to tell you within 48 hours of the status of your order.

And you still haven't purchased anything. It's made something that should have been over in seconds take more than two days!

You don't want customers abandoning their shopping carts. Unlike the fable, in this hare and tortoise race, the hare always wins.