UK and Germany out in front as speedy websites bring festive cheer

Dynatrace has announced the findings of a series of benchmark tests that reveal how well retail websites (across the UK, US, France, Germany, China, Australia, Spain and the Nordic region) performed during the holiday shopping season.

On average, global sites for consumers doing online shopping between Black Friday and 3rd January were visually complete and ready to use within 2.5 seconds. Dave Anderson, Digital Performance Expert at Dynatrace, says: “Consumers expect websites to load within three seconds or less, so these results make for good reading for retailers. Germany and the UK are out in front when it comes to user experience, but there’s still work for retailers to do in other countries. The numbers involved may be considered fine margins, but the slightest delay in user experience can have a ripple effect on sales. For example, US-based fashion retailer Nordstrom reported an 11% fall in sales following a slowdown of just half a second.”

The best experience was found predominantly in western European countries. Consumers in Germany (36% faster), the UK (32% faster), France (7% faster) and the Nordic region (4% faster) all had experiences that were faster than the global average of 2.5 seconds. Notable under performers included the US (10% slower), Spain (14% slower), Australia (15% slower) and China (42% slower).