Retail websites mostly hold up for busy Thanksgiving weekend
When developing and maintaining an effective retail website, one concern many merchants face is the possibility of the online storefront crashing or slowing down, which can result in lost sales. This was a big worry for many businesses over Thanksgiving weekend, as a record number of shoppers used the internet to purchase items and gifts for the holiday season. For the most part, websites held up to the vast amounts of traffic.
Internet Retailer reports that there were no major power outages throughout the weekend for the retailers that were tracked on the Keynote Mobile Commerce Performance Index. There was a slight problem with site availability on Cyber Monday, but it was not enough to significantly deter retail sales. The source notes that to avoid these types of situations in the future, especially ones that can have a severe impact on customer purchases, regular testing should be conducted to ensure that the sites can withstand large amounts of traffic and any interruptions.
Cyber Monday turned out to be the biggest online spending day in history, according to a study by comScore. Approximately $1.46 billion was spent on retail sites throughout the day, which was an increase of 17 percent from the same time last year.
