Press Room: 2008
Economic Woes Increase Online Holiday Shopping Pressures – Keynote Available to Media on Black Friday/Cyber Monday
SAN MATEO, CALIF., — November 20, 2008 — Keynote Competitive Research, the industry analysis group of Keynote® Systems (Nasdaq: KEYN), today announced it is closely monitoring the performance of leading e-tailers as experts predict a busy online holiday shopping season. The company will be making itself readily available to media on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and through Christmas for reporting on the speed and reliability of leading online holiday shopping sites. Media interested in receiving updates regarding how popular shopping sites are performing during this period of time and/or to schedule an interview should email their request to: ljohnson@citigatecunningham.com and dberkowitz@keynote.com.
With a struggling economy in recession, consumers are planning on spending less on gifts this holiday season at brick and mortar stores, causing retailers to scramble to capture the disposable income that is available. However, e-commerce is an exception, with Forrester Research predicting online retail sales growth of 12 percent this holiday season. This growth, combined with online retailers’ aggressive drive to attract shoppers through promotions like free shipping and sales, creates an environment for potentially serious performance issues that could make for a not-so-merry Christmas for retailers. Now more than ever, it’s imperative for retailers to adopt a number of new practices for superior performance, ensuring that shoppers do not navigate away from their page or abandon a transaction due to performance frustration.
“One bright spot in this year’s holiday shopping season has been online, which is seeing growth in the double digits,” said Ben Rushlo, director of competitive research at Keynote. “With the increased traffic, however, it’s critical to ensure customers are having a premium experience and sites are performing seamlessly. In 2008, the sites that focus on ensuring performance will capture consumers and bring in the revenue retailers desperately need this holiday season, as well as position themselves well for an economic upswing.”
Keynote’s reporting, based on The Keynote Retail Transaction Performance Indices comprised of leading online shopping sites across apparel, electronics, and books and music, sets a standard for retailers to measure acceptable performance against. The Keynote Retail Transaction Performance Indices measure and benchmark the performance for an online shopping transaction for each leading retail site, including product search, shopping cart and checkout process performance.
Keynote provides the industry’s fastest and most reliable monitoring capabilities; the data used to create Keynote’s indices is collected in real time on an hourly basis from 10 cities across the U.S., providing an up-to-the-minute barometer of online consumer experience throughout the 2008 holiday shopping season. The index data is collected using Transaction Perspective®, Keynote’s market–leading Web site performance measurement and monitoring service.
Further information on the Keynote Retail Performance Indices is available online at: www.keynote.com/keynote_competitive_research/performance_indices/retail/retail_index.html
Sites Included on Keynote’s Retail Web Transaction Performance Indices
Apparel sites on Keynote’s retail indices include: Abercrombie & Fitch (NYSE: ANF); Banana Republic (NYSE: GPS), Eddie Bauer (Nasdaq: EBHI); Foot Locker (NYSE: FL); Gap (NYSE: GPS); JC Penney (NYSE: JCP); JCrew; Macy’s (Federated Department Stores, NYSE: FD); Neiman Marcus; Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN); Saks Fifth Avenue (NYSE: SKS); Sears (Nasdaq: SHLD); and Zappos.
Books and music sites on Keynote’s retail indices include: AbeBooks.com; Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN); Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS); Borders (NYSE: BGP); Buy.com; Overstock.com (Nasdaq: OSTK); Target (NYSE: TGT); Tower Records; and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT).
Electronics sites on Keynote’s retail indices include: Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN); Best Buy (NYSE: BBY); Buy.com; CDW (Nasdaq: CDWC); Circuit City (NYSE: CC); Dell (Nasdaq: DELL); Office Depot (NYSE: ODP); Overstock.com (Nasdaq: OSTK); Staples (Nasdaq: SPLS); and Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT).
About Keynote
Keynote Systems (Nasdaq “KEYN”) is the global leader in on-demand test & measurement solutions for continuously improving the online experience. For over a decade, Keynote has been providing measurement data and testing capabilities that allow companies to understand and improve their customers’ online and mobile experience. Keynote has four test and measurement businesses: Web performance, mobile quality, streaming & VoIP, and customer experience/UX.
Known as The Mobile and Internet Performance Authority™, Keynote has a market-leading infrastructure of 2,600 measurement computers and mobile devices in over 240 locations around the world. Keynote’s 2,800 customers represent top Internet and mobile companies including American Express, Dell, Disney, eBay, E*TRADE, Expedia, Microsoft, SonyEricsson, Sprint, T-Mobile, Verizon, Vodafone and YouTube.
Keynote Systems, Inc. is headquartered in San Mateo, California and can be reached at www.keynote.com or by phone in the U.S. at 1-800-KEYNOTE.
Keynote, The Internet Performance Authority, Perspective and Customer Experience Rankings are registered trademarks and The Mobile and Internet Performance Authority and True Experience are trademarks of Keynote Systems, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2008 Keynote Systems, Inc.
Editorial Contacts:
Dan Berkowitz, Keynote Systems, (650) 403-3305, dberkowitz@keynote.com
Leslie Johnson, Citigate Cunningham, (415) 618-8740, ljohnson@citigatecunningham.com