"Today, retailers can no longer assume that their sites are able to easily handle increased holiday volume or that customers will stick around to wait for a web page to load," said Nikki Baird, Managing Partner at RSR Research. "Delivering quality web experiences while using advanced web technologies is now a competitive necessity."
The report recommends that "strategic opportunities exist within enhanced personalization, search, merchandising, and cross-channel tie-in solutions," but also cautions retailers about their potential pitfalls.
"Bear in mind that adding new features or tools (especially those using web 2.0 technologies or delivered via third parties) can impact the performance of both the website and customers' online experiences. Retailers looking to ensure that all users have the optimal experience, regardless of location, connection or browser, should therefore test and monitor their own site performance and benchmark against their competitors and industry leaders," said Steve Rowen, RSR Research partner/analyst.
"Given that the holiday season is just around the corner and that online retail has been forecast as the one bright spot in our gloomy economy, now really is the time to commit to the web experience," said Matthew Poepsel, Gomez's VP of performance strategies.
