Zappos and Dell had February`s fastest low broadband times

Low broadband is the typical high-speed Internet connection shoppers use from home to access a retailer’s web site. But the top 50 retail sites vary widely in how fast shoppers can use their low broadband-connected PC or laptop to download home and product pages, according to Gomez Inc., an Internet performance management firm.

In February shoppers with low broadband connectivity could download a Top 50 site in about 13.89 seconds, Gomez reports. Among the top 50 retailers, Zappos provided the fastest low broadband connection at 6.14 seconds and was followed by Dell (7.83 seconds), Drugstore.com (9 seconds), Amazon.com (9.34 seconds), Scholastic (9.4 seconds), Office Depot (9.79 seconds), Coldwater Creek (9.98 seconds), Peapod (10.2 seconds), JC Penney (10.62 seconds), Cabela’s (10.67 seconds) and OfficeMax (10.69 seconds).

Overall the Gomez index of Top 50 retail sites for February found that dial-up shoppers could connect to a business-to-consumer e-commerce site in about 56.61 seconds, while it took shoppers with a high broadband connection an average of 6.12 seconds to access a retail site.

Top 50 Performance Index: Site Response Time  February 1, 2006 - March 1, 2006 Response Time (seconds) Site Dial Up Low              Broadband High             Broadband Netflix 42.94 10.74 4.72 Redcats 43.10 22.56 18.91 Peapod 43.40 10.21 5.88 Avon 44.76 12.22 4.23 Office Max 44.97 10.69 4.12 Nordstrom 45.03 11.51 6.00 Coldwater Creek 45.13 9.98 4.48 Zappos 47.14 6.14 2.56 Office Depot 47.25 9.79 4.04 Blue Nile 48.34 9.84 5.36 Scholastic 48.68 9.40 4.14 Best Buy 48.75 12.24 5.42 Home Shopping Network 49.75 11.04 4.53 Dell 50.18 7.83 3.41 Quixtar 50.34 11.82 5.27 Drugstore.com 51.29 9.00 4.53 JC Penney 51.35 10.62 4.43 QVC.com 51.63 11.66 4.78 Cabelas 52.12 10.67 4.77 Staples 52.43 13.23 5.01 CDW 52.96 16.96 7.54 Gateway 54.64 14.03 5.78 Amazon.com 54.76 9.34 4.03 Sears 54.94 13.70 5.83 Williams Sonoma 54.97 12.20 5.89 Neiman Marcus 55.71 14.46 5.78 Benchmark Average 56.61 13.89 6.12 Toys R Us 56.90 11.56 5.46 Apple 57.69 11.77 4.56 FTD 58.80 11.19 4.95 Cornerstone Brands 59.64 16.30 7.82 HP Direct 60.47 14.18 5.46 Barnes and Noble 62.14 13.66 5.78 Costco 63.70 21.62 10.64 Wal-mart 64.01 14.70 5.67 Kmart 65.20 19.96 7.94 Eddie Bauer 65.37 13.38 4.59 1800 Flowers 65.62 17.15 7.31 Overstock.com 67.08 18.11 8.50 Circuit City 67.23 14.41 5.31 Home Depot 67.61 18.29 7.58 PC Mall 67.88 16.74 7.06 Comp USA 69.13 17.06 6.35 Musicians Friend 73.02 14.40 5.70 Tiger Direct 75.95 15.67 5.76 Buy.com 77.91 16.03 6.27 GAP 80.39 23.84 9.54 New Egg 81.65 24.51 11.99 Sony Style 82.82 18.32 6.64 Target 83.77 18.99 7.60 L.L. Bean Inc. N/A N/A N/A  Copyright © 2006 Gomez, Inc.                                      www.gomez.com