Merchandising and Design - Dial-up availability varies widely in May

However, the top three companies provided solid dial-up availability rates that averaged well over 90% in May, according to Gomez Inc.

Mark Brohan

Research Director

Despite the fact that more online retailers are gearing up for broadband, many customers still shop the Internet using a dial-up connection. In May the dial-up availability provided by the web’s 50 biggest retailers was very inconsistent, says Gomez Inc.

The top three companies-Peapod, Zappos and Dell-provided solid dial-up availability rates that averaged well over 90%. Peapod led all retailers with a site success rate of 96.64% and was followed by Zappos and Dell at 95.51% and 94.24%, respectively. But after the top three sites, the average plunges substantially.

The next most consistent retailer in May was Blue Nile with a dial-up site success rate of 72.75%, followed by Avon (71.09%), Scholastic (70.93%), Eddie Bauer (69.83%), OfficeMax (69.72%), Coldwater Creek (69.19%) and Drugstore.com (68.46%).

The overall average for all top 50 retailers in May was 64.13%.

Top 50 Performance Index: Site Success Rate
May 1, 2006 - June 1, 2006

Availability (%)

Site	Dial Up (%)	Low Broadband (%)	High Broadband (%)
Peapod	96.64	99.33	98.94
Zappos	95.51	99.28	99.14
Dell	94.24	98.37	97.97
Blue Nile	72.57	99.08	98.91
Avon	71.09	99.42	99.05
Scholastic	70.93	98.90	98.87
Eddie Bauer	69.83	98.80	97.95
Office Max	69.72	98.91	98.43
Coldwater Creek	69.19	98.43	98.24
Drugstore.com	68.46	99.03	98.52
Williams Sonoma	67.74	98.21	98.24
Cabelas	67.56	98.86	98.13
Quixtar	67.31	98.54	98.40
FTD	67.24	97.22	97.54
Office Depot	67.15	98.78	98.12
Comp USA	66.88	98.42	98.14
Toys R Us	66.58	97.77	97.49
JC Penney	66.38	98.90	98.40
Gateway	66.37	98.39	98.03
Home Shopping Network	66.33	98.29	97.26
Netflix	66.32	97.89	97.79
HP Direct	66.18	97.71	97.16
Amazon.com	66.17	98.76	98.36
Nordstrom	64.98	97.92	97.32
Sears	64.57	98.47	97.72
Apple	64.56	98.85	98.72
LL Bean	64.54	98.36	97.97
Neiman Marcus	64.49	97.82	97.55
Benchmark Average	64.13	98.10	97.74
Barnes and Noble	64.13	97.73	98.40
Staples	64.08	97.63	96.56
QVC.com	63.77	98.58	98.42
Circuit City	63.26	98.27	97.77
Redcats	62.84	98.44	98.23
Cornerstone Brands	62.55	97.94	97.10
Musicians Friend	62.44	98.68	98.24
1800 Flowers	62.27	97.94	97.71
CDW	62.05	98.01	98.18
Kmart	61.86	96.99	96.53
Costco	60.41	96.55	94.78
Wal-mart	59.86	98.19	97.40
Overstock.com	59.64	97.47	96.76
PC Mall	59.42	97.83	97.34
Buy.com	53.85	97.64	96.87
Tiger Direct	50.90	97.87	97.50
Best Buy	50.35	95.34	96.18
Home Depot	48.92	96.64	96.36
New Egg	47.50	96.94	96.96
Sony Style	42.89	97.93	97.78
GAP	38.01	96.48	96.59
Target	34.78	97.26	97.06