Zappos.com leads in high broadband download time

Zappos.com is the fastest-loading Internet site when visitors access the site using a high broadband connection, according to a new performance index of the web’s Top 50 retail sites by Gomez Inc.

The weekly index, which measures the top 50 retailers as ranked by The Top 400 Guide, reveals that on average a visitor with a high broadband connection can access Zappos.com in 2.7 seconds. Other leading sites are Dell Inc. (3.3), Amazon (3.3), Office Depot (3.6), Apple Computer (3.7), Peapod (3.9), Scholastic (3.9), QVC (4.1), Blue Nile (4.2), FTD (4.3) and J.C. Penney (4.4).

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High broadband means a visitor to a retail web site can download a page from the site using a connection with a speed of more than 512k, which is typical of a shopper using a high-speed connection in a corporate setting.

The Gomez index shows that SonyStyle.com was the slowest retail site to load with a high broadband connection--12.9 seconds compared to an average of 5.6 seconds for all 50 retailers.

How fast visitors can access a web site remains a key indicator of Internet retailers’ site performance. The Gomez Index found that on average it took visitors 48 seconds to download a page using a dial-up connection and 12.3 seconds with a low broadband connection.

The fastest loading site using a low broadband connection was Zappos at 5.3 seconds. Low broadband connection is typical of shoppers using a broadband connection at home to connect to the Internet. Following Zappos, the fastest loading low broadband sites were Peapod (6.1), Scholastic (6.9) Dell (7.3), Amazon (7.4), Office Depot (8.3) and Drugstore.com (8.5).