Mobile commerce sites slow to a crawl during holiday shopping

Mobile commerce may be a problem for site traffic

Mobile commerce had a strong showing over the Thanksgiving holiday shopping weekend. Mobile sales this year set a new standard for much of the retail industry and proved how powerful mobile commerce can really be. Retailers are expected to show more enthusiasm in mobile commerce due to the gains they saw during the holiday shopping weekend, but they may also have to fine tune their mobile shopping initiatives to account for higher levels of traffic.

Keynote shows average load time exceeds 18 seconds

Though a vast multitude of consumers took to their mobile devices to shop for the products they wanted, many saw mobile commerce platforms slow to a crawl. Keynote, a site monitoring and testing companies, notes that many e-commerce and mobile platforms experiences a dramatic slow down over the holiday shopping weekend. This slow down was especially pronounced on Cyber Monday, with consumers flocked to retail sites to buy products. According to Keynote, the average load time for a mobile retail site on Cyber Monday reached 18 seconds — twice as slow as normal load times.

Consumers not apt to wait during holiday shopping

While 18 seconds may not seem like a significant amount of time, many consumers correlate slow load times with poor service. Though retailers have been investing heavily in mobile commerce, much of the effort these companies have been putting into the sector revolves around engaging consumers. As such, relatively few retailers were prepared for the massive amount of traffic they would experience on their mobile sites. Retailers may have to rethink  their approach to mobile commerce if they want to continue engaging mobile consumers.

Retailers may need to take new approach to their mobile sites

Mobile commerce is growing quickly, putting major strain on mobile websites that are designed to serve consumers. Keynote suggests that there may be a simple solution. Retailers must develop better mobile websites and adopt more rigorous testing procedures to ensure that their sites can handle high levels of traffic. Without adequate testing, a slow-loading website could be enough to have consumers looking elsewhere for service.