NCC GROUP PLC 
By - Minimal downtime from the busiest online retailers contributed to great customer experience.
- Average download speed much quicker from the top 10 than top 50.
Strong online shopping figures over the Christmas period from the big e-tail players were backed up by impressive website performance, research from NCC Group has shown.
The Group's quarterly online retail report analyses the web performance of the UK's 50 busiest retail websites in terms of traffic, measuring both the average download speed and website downtime. This quarter showed significant differences between the top 10 and the rest of the field.
Bob Dowson, director at NCC Group's website performance division, commented: "Internet retail sales grew by 15.5% in December 2012 compared to the year prior. It's no coincidence that this has come at a time when the busiest sites displayed excellent website performance."
The top 10 had an average downtime of just 6.5 minutes over the three months, meaning sites were almost always available for customers. The results for the top 50 on the other hand were less impressive, with an average downtime of 2 hours and 25 minutes.
In terms of download speeds, the top 10 again out-performed the rest of the top 50 with an average of 4.9 seconds over a connection speed of 2 Mbps. The rest of the field averaged a lengthy 6.4 seconds - meaning visitors were waiting much longer for the sites to load. This is crucial, as load time has been shown to impact directly on online revenue.
Dowson continued: "Although the performance of the top 10 should be praised, the top 50 as a whole have not performed well enough. Customers were not treated to a good enough online shopping experience.
"This is of critical importance at a time when high profile closures on the high street mean large portions of the market are up for grabs. Those e-commerce sites that prioritise website performance will have a better chance of capitalising on this expanding customer base."
Q4 01/10/2012 - 31/12/2012
Top 10 e-tailers
Average downtime: 6.5 minutes
Average download speed: 4.9 seconds (connection speed of 2 Mbps)
Top 50 e-tailers
Average downtime: 2 hrs 25 minutes
Average download speed: 6.4 seconds
Q3 01/07/2012 - 31/09/2012
Top 50 e-tailers
Average downtime: 3 hours and 29 minutes
Average download speed: 6.6 seconds
Q2 01/04/2012 - 31/06/2012
Top 50 e-tailers
Average downtime: 2 hours and 5 minutes
Average download speed: 5.6 seconds
Q1 01/01/2012 - 31/03/2012
Top 50 e-tailers
Average downtime: 2 hours 4 minutes
Average download speed: 5.2 seconds
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