12 Tips to Assess Online Retail Readiness for the Holidays

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1 WHITEPAPER 12 Tips to Assess Online Retail Readiness for the Holidays Common Hosting Problems as Expressed by Online Shoppers, Holiday Season 2008* Abandoned a slow website 34% Website crashed/froze 21% Could not complete purchase 19% Site was temporarily down 16% Purchase didn t go through 10% *Based on percentage of respondents who expressed frustration with their online shopping. Source: Guidance survey (with Synovate), December 2008 Introduction Online holiday retail sales are expected to surpass $44 billion in According to WebTrends, the holiday season accounts for 50 percent or more of annual revenue for a quarter of Internet-only retailers and one fifth of multi-channel (Internet and store) retailers. In addition, recent data has shown that even as holiday shoppers spend less overall, the online channel continues to grow with consistent, sizeable year-over-year increases in consumers and spending dollars. Consider that the online holiday shopping season is in full swing as early as the 4 th of July, as leading retailers lure bargain-hungry shoppers to Web sites with early toy sales and interest-free layaway. With stakes this high, savvy online retailers know that overall Web performance including availability, responsiveness and consistency can have a huge impact on revenues, brand and customer satisfaction. The message is clear: online retailers must heavily leverage their Web presence to maximize critical, fleeting revenue opportunities and compensate for sluggish in-store sales. This means delivering superior Web experiences for their most important user segments, under both normal and peak traffic loads commonly experienced during the holidays. With billions of dollars up for grabs hopes are high for the 2009 holiday shopping season, most experts agree that this year won t be a sleigh ride for retailers. Online retailers can t afford to lose a single dollar of revenue to poor Web performance. Research shows that 80% of application problems are found by customers. Data from the 2008 holiday season shows that performance problems may have been a significant cause of lost revenue and missed conversions last year: 34% of customers abandoned slow websites 19% could not complete a purchase for a technical reason 16% of visitors experienced a Website that was temporarily not available But ensuring superior Web experiences is not always so easy, for two primary reasons: First, today s Web applications have evolved from single point of delivery to rich composite applications incorporating numerous third-party services that take users down rich paths of functionality without requiring them to ever leave the Web page. For example, a single online sales application may include search, shopping cart, check-out and other functionalities from external parties. Gomez, Incorporated 10 Maguire Rd, Bldg3, Suite 330, Lexington, MA General Inquiries: Sales: USA UK +44 (0) Germany +49 (0) Gomez, Inc. All rights reserved. Gomez is a registered service mark, and the tagline Ensuring Quality Web Experiences SM is a service mark of Gomez, Inc. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. Together these functionalities comprise a highly interdependent Web application delivery chain, and poor performance at any step can bring down performance of the entire application. Remember, application end-users are not leaving your Web page and as a result, they don t care what may be the root cause of poor performance they will simply associate any poor performance with you. Consider the recent Aberdeen Group finding that one second delays in response time can reduce conversions by seven percent; and that the average online shopper waits a scant four seconds before going to a competitor s site. With stakes this high, retailers can t afford to shrug off responsibility for third-party services. They must manage all the components feeding into their Web sites and applications, including those beyond their own firewall.

2 Good Performance = Good Business AOL revealed that users that experience the fastest page load times view 50% more pages per visit than users experiencing the slowest page load times Bing found that a 2 second slowdown caused a 4.3% reduction in revenue per user Shopzilla reducing page load times from 7 seconds to 2 seconds, with a corresponding 7-12% increase in revenue and 50% reduction in hardware costs Source: velocity-making-your-site-fast.html Second, there is no one user for whom retailers need to ensure Web performance. End-users are dispersed across different geographies and leverage an extremely wide range of technologies including ISPs, CDNs, desktops and browsers, all of which can impact performance, especially when traffic loads are heavy. This is known as the last mile and the sheer volume of scenarios to test is a daunting prospect. Today, it is no longer sufficient to get a positive test read on Web application performance under load from an internal lab and assume end-user performance is great (unless, of course, your end-users live in your datacenter which is highly unlikely). This approach simply does not take into account all the performance-impacting variables that stand between your datacenter and your end-users. The reality is, today the Internet is the datacenter. In order to identify performance issues you must have a true view of how end-users across a broad range of usage scenarios are experiencing your application, under both normal and peak traffic loads, direct from their browsers all the way back to your datacenter and encompassing all the performance-impacting variables in between (known as an outside-in approach). Performance monitoring and load testing Web applications can be the key to finding and fixing issues before they impact end-users and your business results, giving you greater confidence in application performance and scalability. But the key is to test the right way across the extended Web application delivery chain, under various load sizes and from the last mile, outside-in perspective of your highest priority end-users. We ve made a list for you to check twice Within this context, the following list of tips, really key questions, to ask yourself, your IT/Operations team and your company. These questions are designed to encompass the full range of issues you need to consider, prioritize and address to ensure your Web site and applications will deliver exceptional performance when you need it most even under best case traffic scenarios. These questions are part of Gomez s free Holiday HealthCheck, which offers a complimentary review of your performance in each of these areas before the Holiday season is in full swing. Are you all thumbs up? Take a moment to answer these questions about your company s readiness for Holiday Season Question Are our most important transactions and pages available to my customers? Availability is the most important metric for any Web site, because if your site is not available to your users, your store is closed. A Web site may be lightning fast when it is available, but be available only 85 percent of the time. That means that 15 percent of all opportunities to sell products are lost. According to Gomez Benchmark research, the average availability for end-users of top retail homepages is percent. Are our most important transactions and pages performing quickly? Responsiveness of Web pages is a key driver for visitor satisfaction and conversions. According to a recent Aberdeen Research Report, each additional second of response time above 3.9 seconds per page impacts the business in the following ways: Decreases page views by 11 percent Decreases customer satisfaction by 16 percent Decreases conversions by 7 percent Based on Gomez Benchmark research, the average response time for top retail homepages is 2.18 seconds. WHITEPAPER 12 TIPS TO ASSESS ONLINE RETAIL READINESS FOR THE HOLIDAYS 2

3 Are our customers having a positive experience (e.g. quickly loading pages without errors) across different geographies? On the Internet, variations in page response times across different geographies occur naturally based on the distance between the host datacenter(s) and the end-user s location. A common issue with performance differences across geographies is exhibited in different conversion rates across key geographies. Understanding the magnitude of those differences and their impact on end-users can help to determine if additional investments in hardware, acceleration services or a new datacenter are needed. How quickly does my Web site perform across different times of the day and at different levels of load? Varied response times depending on the time of day may indicate capacity problems; too many visitors during peak times may also impact response time. Another common cause of varied response times is scheduled processes occurring all at the same time, or in quick succession, during off hours. Regardless of the underlying cause, end-user experiences and brand are impacted during these brownouts. Experiencing performance problems during peak traffic periods when you have the most users trying to buy directly impacts conversions opportunities. Industry best practices suggest load testing prior to major events like the holiday season to ensure that Web sites can scale to handle peak traffic loads. How does our performance compare to our competition? Are we better than, the same as, or worse than competitors? Comparing your performance to that of your industry competitors provides an unbiased view of the state of your Web site so companies can tune performance and determine if infrastructure investments are needed and will provide a competitive advantage. Understandingyour rank versus competitors can help to answer Are we over/under investing in infrastructure? Benchmarks are also a great way for IT teams to highlight quality of service delivery to executive teams, peers and prospective customers. Are our most important transactions and pages performing optimally for High Broadband users? Low Broadband users? Dial-up users? Monitoring performance from the last mile shifts the perspective from the lab-like environment of the backbone toward a viewpoint closer to your end-users at the source of revenue. Sub 4 second page response time at Internet backbone locations may translate to download times of as much as 16 seconds for an end-user at home on a broadband connection, which can impact conversions and satisfaction. Last mile performance also helps to quantify edge of the network benefits of Content Delivery Network (CDNs) investments. Slow performance across end-users desktops can directly impact end-user experiences at the source of revenue. Common causes for slow performance and poor availability across end-user desktops are page size, distance from content source and local ISP performance. How well does your Web site perform for your end-users when traffic levels are high and your infrastructure is under load? The performance of your Web site under load is key to profitability, especially during the Holiday season. Having to worry... What if our viral marketing initiative is so successful that our site can t hold up under the load? or Will end-users drop off after waiting a few seconds too long and never come back? is not productive. With the emergence of the Web as a primary (and low cost) sales and support channel, retailers must be prepared for peak traffic volumes so end-users can browse, buy and book. Retailers must also guarantee that all components in a complex Web application delivery chain can scale under load, as well as identify and fix any breaking points before revenue is put at risk. WHITEPAPER 12 TIPS TO ASSESS ONLINE RETAIL READINESS FOR THE HOLIDAYS 3

4 Does the size of my Web page or the number of objects on the page impact performance for end-users? Overall page size has the greatest impact on the performance of a page, especially for your users at the end of the Web application delivery chain. While a large page with rich content and lots of images may be what the marketing team requires, it may not always deliver the best experience for all end-users. Large pages frustrate end-users who are forced to wait while content downloads slowly over the last mile of the Internet. The same challenge holds true for Web pages with a large number of objects on them. A large number of objects can increase Web page latency (how long users are forced to wait for content). There are several common ways to optimize Web pages with a large number of objects, such as combining external objects and using CSS sprites where possible. Are third-party providers such as ratings and reviews, ads, news feeds, e-commerce engines and content delivery networks hurting our performance? Today s Web applications are complex, with content and Web services delivered to the endusers browser from multiple sources. These sources include components delivered from within your datacenter what traditional load testing and monitoring solutions address as well as third-party components delivered from beyond the firewall including content delivery networks (CDNs), news feeds, ads, analytics, bill payment, and e-commerce platforms. The performance of these key third parties is often overlooked when it comes to measuring the performance of an entire multi-step application under load and for monitoring. Even though third-party content does not come from your datacenter, the performance of that content, in the minds of end-users, reflects on your Web site, business and brand. Is my Web page optimized for fast performance? The coding, content, delivery and construction of Web pages in the browser is a complex process with numerous steps that rely heavily on content delivered by you and your partners. How well each part of the process works can impact end-user performance. There are numerous techniques that can be used to optimize performance including: compressing objects and images with gzip; reducing the number of network requests; minifying JavaScript and CSS; and removing duplicate JavaScript and CSS files. How well do my Web pages perform across top browsers (IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox 3.0, & Safari 3.2)? The browser wars are back. In the last 12 months, next generation versions of browsers have emerged, offering consumers even more choices for accessing and navigating the web. For Web site providers, these browser wars create a burden because Web pages can look, function, and perform differently in each browser and version. No longer is it safe (or reasonable) to rely only on the current version of Internet Explorer for your performance monitoring and tuning. End-users (especially the Internet savvy ones) are using Firefox, Chrome, and Safari regularly. Browser diversity is at an all time high: Browser Version Market Share July 2009 Internet Explorer % Internet Explorer % Firefox 20.7% Internet Explorer % Chrome 2.4% Other 13.6% Source: WHITEPAPER 12 TIPS TO ASSESS ONLINE RETAIL READINESS FOR THE HOLIDAYS 4

5 Do my Web pages visually render correctly across top browsers (IE6, IE7, IE8, Firefox 3.0, & Safari 3.2)? At the application level, different browsers may load source code, images and third-party objects in different orders, leading to inconsistent presentation and frustrated end-users. Nowadays, rendering issues on any of the top browsers can mean lost conversions and missed cross-sell opportunities, as well as a decrease in end-user satisfaction. If you could not give a up to at least 9 of the 12 questions, it may be time to speak to an expert about a free Holiday HealthCheck. To get specific help on any of these Best Practices, general insights on getting ready for the holiday season, or improving customer experience, talk to a Gomez consultant by calling Gomez Named #1 Provider of Web Performance Monitoring to 113 of Internet Retailer Magazine s Top 500 Protecting Over $57 Billion in Online Revenue Conclusion Imagine it s Black Friday. Your online customer service representatives are trained and primed to help your customers. Your warehouse shelves are stocked and your logistics providers are all lined up at the door. Your holiday promotions and campaigns are in full throttle and your feature-rich web applications including search, online catalogs, shopping carts, order status information, rating and reviews, streaming video and more are ready to roll. Then boom! something in your most critical Web application goes awry the very day that exceptional performance is needed most, bringing your e-commerce operation to a screeching halt. While this may seem like a remotely possible worst-case scenario, is the risk to revenues, customer satisfaction and brand image something you can live with this holiday season? If not, take the first step to ensuring superior Web experiences with Gomez Holiday Health- Check. We diagnose your Web performance problems for free, letting you know that you are ready for business and delivering great experiences to end-users. Moreover, we help build your confidence and position you to maximize your e-commerce operations this holiday season and beyond. To request a free Gomez Holiday HealthCheck, go to: About Gomez Gomez, Inc. is the leader in Web application experience management, providing an on-demand platform that organizations use to optimize the performance, availability, and quality of their Web and mobile applications. The Gomez platform identifies businessimpacting issues by testing and measuring Web applications from the outside-in across all users, browsers, devices, and geographies using a global network of 100,000+ locations. The self-service Gomez platform integrates Web load testing, Web performance management, cross-browser testing, and Web performance business analysis. Over 2,500 customers worldwide, ranging from small companies to large enterprises including 12 of the top 20 most visited US Web sites use Gomez to increase revenue, build brand loyalty, and decrease costs. WHITEPAPER 12 TIPS TO ASSESS ONLINE RETAIL READINESS FOR THE HOLIDAYS 5