Big retailers deliver better broadband connectivity in June

At 2.52 seconds, Zappos.com in June 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 (2.74 seconds), Scholastic (3.3 seconds), OfficeMax (3.53 seconds), Foot Locker (3.85 seconds), Chadwicks (3.85 seconds), FTD (4.14 seconds), Victoria’s Secret (4.14 seconds), Cabela’s (4.18 seconds), Eddie Bauer (4.21 seconds) and J.C. Penney (4.35 seconds).

Using a low broadband connection, Zappos also provided the fastest site response time: 6.7 seconds. Dell had the fastest dial-up time of 34.44 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 June a shopper with a high broadband connection could access a Top 50 retail site in 5.65 seconds, compared with 15.44 seconds for a low broadband connection and 56.59 seconds for dial-up.

Top 50 Performance Index: Site Response Time  June 1, 2006 - June 30, 2006 Response Time (seconds) Site Dial Up Low            Broadband High           Broadband  Dell 34.44 7.22 2.74 Office Max 44.18 10.50 3.53 Footlocker 44.56 9.65 3.85 Netflix 44.78 12.72 5.02 Scholastic 44.90 9.71 3.33 FTD 45.90 12.21 4.14 HP Shopping 46.83 13.40 5.62 Quixtar 47.31 12.86 4.53 L. L. Bean 48.75 12.97 4.45 Cabelas 48.91 10.81 4.18 Macys Store 49.13 12.71 4.91 Williams-Sonoma 49.50 12.10 4.86 Staples 49.71 14.38 4.99 Zappos 50.21 6.70 2.52 J. C. Penney 50.77 12.77 4.35 Avon Shopping 51.30 13.55 5.48 Office Depot 51.38 13.19 4.68 Eddie Bauer 51.65 12.18 4.21 CompUSA 52.48 15.16 6.04 Neiman Marcus 53.62 15.84 5.75 Toys R Us 53.66 12.21 5.13 HSN 53.78 13.09 4.30 Drugstore 54.40 13.82 5.55 Gateway 54.51 16.10 6.35 Wal-Mart 54.90 12.11 4.25 Barnes and Noble 55.30 13.81 4.87 CDW 56.00 20.28 7.85 Victoria Secret 56.26 12.83 4.14 Nordstrom 56.44 19.54 9.34 Amazon 56.45 11.82 4.72 Benchmark Average 56.59 15.44 5.65 Peapod 57.97 21.94 9.87 Circuit City 59.54 14.94 5.15 1-800 Flowers 61.13 19.48 7.15 PC Connection 61.44 17.56 6.40 Chadwicks 63.56 13.57 3.85 Costco 64.44 23.15 9.46 QVC 64.81 15.30 5.42 Sears 65.41 17.62 5.47 Apple Store 69.46 14.60 5.00 Musicians Friend 70.92 16.21 5.16 Overstock 72.23 20.69 8.02 The Home Depot 72.54 21.70 8.02 Buy.com 73.81 18.97 6.43 Best Buy 73.99 20.47 7.18 Gap 74.24 25.65 8.85 Oriental Trading 74.36 17.70 6.15 Newegg 74.84 20.60 6.93 Tiger Direct 82.87 18.97 6.92 Target 87.39 26.87 8.96 Sony Style 94.64 21.39 6.27  Copyright © 2006 Gomez, Inc.                                      www.gomez.com