Big retailers deliver better high broadband performance in August

At 3.27 seconds, Zappos in August provided the fastest response time for customers accessing the site using a high broadband connection, says Gomez Inc.

Top 500 Guide

Zappos was followed by Dell (3.33 seconds), OfficeMax (3.49 seconds), Chadwick’s (3.78 seconds), Cabela’s (4.20 seconds) HSN.com (4.59 seconds) and Walmart.com (4.79 seconds).

Using a low broadband connection, Zappos also provided the fastest site response time: 8.08 seconds. OfficeMax had the fastest dial-up time of 38.68 seconds. Web shoppers typically use a high broadband connection to log onto the Internet from a corporate environment, usually their place of employment. At home most web shoppers use a low broadband connection.

In August a shopper with a high broadband connection could access a Top 50 retail site in 6.14 seconds, compared with 15.50 seconds for a low broadband connection and 58.41 seconds for dial-up.

Top 50 Performance Index: Site Response Time  August 1, 2006 - August 31, 2006 Response Time (Seconds) Site Dial Up (%)   Low Broadband (%) High Broadband (%) Office Max 38.68 8.92 3.49 HP Shopping 43.20 12.29 5.82 Office Depot 43.22 10.57 4.90 Zappos 43.40 8.08 3.27 Dell 45.47 9.09 3.33 Netflix 45.83 12.66 5.50 Cabelas 47.24 10.64 4.20 Quixtar 47.92 13.89 5.77 Footlocker 48.51 11.60 4.91 HSN 48.70 11.85 4.59 Williams-Sonoma 48.87 11.57 4.83 Scholastic 49.01 10.05 3.86 Staples 49.14 13.40 5.11 Macys Store 49.69 12.37 4.93 Avon Shopping 49.76 12.66 4.98 Nordstrom 50.63 13.84 6.26 Neiman Marcus 51.03 14.10 5.52 J. C. Penney 51.98 12.18 4.71 L. L. Bean 52.85 14.87 5.67 Chadwicks 52.97 11.26 3.78 Gateway 53.07 14.98 6.45 CDW 53.33 18.26 8.20 Drugstore 54.44 13.42 6.17 CompUSA 55.54 14.90 6.51 Eddie Bauer 56.51 12.51 4.67 Peapod 56.55 21.10 10.41 Barnes and Noble 56.63 13.76 5.09 Benchmark Average 58.41 15.50 6.14 Wal-Mart 60.32 12.19 4.79 Amazon 60.59 13.27 5.37 Victoria Secret 61.04 12.95 4.68 1-800 Flowers 61.56 17.67 7.75 FTD 63.15 16.50 6.19 Costco 64.96 19.58 8.62 Sears 67.60 18.54 6.36 PC Connection 69.23 21.81 10.06 Musicians Friend 71.60 15.38 5.15 Apple Store 72.03 15.11 5.61 Overstock 72.85 19.38 7.82 QVC 72.96 17.32 6.28 Circuit City 73.73 16.49 5.97 Oriental Trading 74.08 18.09 6.73 The Home Depot 75.68 22.39 8.65 Buy.com 75.82 18.43 6.64 Newegg 78.40 19.91 7.22 Tiger Direct 80.36 17.96 7.08 Gap 81.67 29.69 10.85 Toys R Us 82.69 18.43 7.35 Best Buy 85.88 23.19 8.42 Target 88.74 23.83 8.95 Sony Style 90.18 23.39 7.37  Copyright © 2006 Gomez, Inc.                                      www.gomez.com