You are here: Home | Multichannel Retailing | E-retailers ho-ho-hopeless in run-up to Christmas, says research
E-retailers ho-ho-hopeless in run-up to Christmas, says research
Retailers fail to prepare for the November Christmas shopping rush.
Research from website monitoring and load testing specialist, Site Confidence, an NCC Group plc company, has discovered that e-retailers fail to prepare for the November Christmas shopping rush, despite it being the highest month for time spent on retail websites over the festive period.
The company found that retail websites had over three times as many failures in November when compared to December in 2008, resulting in four times as much downtime. The results also showed that the average download time for retail websites in November 2008 was greater than figures for both December and January.
November has been the highest month for total time spent online in the retail sector in quarter four for the last three years, according to data from ComScore, while research from IMRG for 2008 noted that November saw greater online sales than December for the first time since 2002.
Site Confidence’s findings, which represent significant disparities in monthly website availability across the festive period, should urge e-retailers to consider their online offering earlier than November to maximise sales opportunities in the run up to Christmas.
Bob Dowson, director at Site Confidence, said that many retailers are ironing out website problems in November to ensure a flawless December: “Competition at Christmas is fierce in the e-retail space, and companies know that their websites are essential in gaining competitive advantage. Most try to prepare early, but some are still using November to rectify functionality problems before December.
“Either online retailers are unaware of the importance of November, both in terms of sales and present research, or they don’t allow the necessary time to rigorously test their sites for capacity and performance. UK consumers spent a staggering £4.6 billion online on presents and food last Christmas, so, to each get their slice, e-retailers must ensure strong availability in November 2009, as well as December and January.
“Retail website functionality issues affect a company’s revenue and reputation, and send its customers into the open arms of competitors which are only a click away. Rigorous load testing ahead of November can help to ensure online retailers have the necessary capacity to cope with predicted periods of increased traffic in this important month, while website monitoring can ensure that user experience remains unaffected by poor performance.”
Should your colleagues be reading the Retail Bulletin? Let them know about us.