Report Finds That Luxury Websites Are Falling Short of Chinese Consumer Expectations

VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

A new report, released today by Strangeloop Networks, finds that despite the fact that China is poised to become the world's most powerful online consumer base by 2015, many leading U.S. and European luxury websites are currently delivering a profoundly sub-par user experience.

“This study has implications far beyond the luxury market,” said Jonathan Bixby, Strangeloop CEO. “We targeted this audience because we see it as something of a canary in the coal mine. Chinese consumers already have a strong affiliation with American and European luxury brands, so it makes sense to feel out this market with websites they are already using. What we found is that, right now, shoppers in China are receiving an abysmal user experience from these sites.”

Entitled “Why Luxury Websites Are Disappointing Chinese Consumers (And Why This Matters to You)”, the study tested the websites of 100 international luxury brands to determine how quickly the home pages load for a shopper in the city of Jiangsu, China. The study found that the average load time was 16.2 seconds. While brands like Halston and Givenchy loaded in fewer than 3 seconds, most other sites did not fare as well, with some taking up to 58 seconds to load.

Web usability experts state that 2 seconds is the optimal load time for internet users. By 10 seconds, most users lose interest and abandon the site. China reportedly has the most demanding web users in the world. A recent survey by Gomez found that 75% of Chinese mobile device users said that they would leave a site after just 3 seconds.

“As China's online commerce base is poised to bypass the U.S. and Japan, there is a huge opportunity for any company that chooses to pursue this audience,” Bixby continued. “But to woo Chinese consumers successfully, site owners are going to have to tackle their page speed issues. Web users in China are one of the most demanding groups in the world. They expect sites to load fast, and right now, most sites are failing to meet those expectations.”

The report cites research indicating why China is emerging as an ecommerce powerhouse:

• In 2009 – during the low point of the global recession – the sale of luxury goods in China grew by 16%. By 2015, China will comprise 20 percent of global luxury sales, surpassing Japan as the world's single largest luxury market. [McKinsey]
• In 2010, China had 420 million internet users – nearly twice as many as in the U.S. By 2015, that number is expected to reach 750 million. [McKinsey]
• Chinese shoppers have not yet hit their projected peak of online spending. Only a third of China's internet users currently shop online, compared with two-thirds in the U.S. As China's online population continues to grow, and as an increasing number of these internet users become online shoppers, this gap is closing quickly. [iResearch]

View the free report: “Why Luxury Websites Are Disappointing Chinese Consumers (And Why This Matters to You)” www.strangeloopnetworks.com/site-performance-in-china-report

View a high-res poster version of our China infographic here: www.strangeloopnetworks.com/china_infographic.jpg

About Strangeloop

Strangeloop is a leader in providing Web Content Optimization (WCO) solutions that enable global ecommerce companies like Petco, Travelocity and Visa to speed up the page load times of their websites and enterprise applications. An early entrant in the WCO space, the company was the first to market an automated solution – the Strangeloop Site Optimizer -- to tackle the core of today's performance problem as a service via the cloud. Strangeloop was also the first company to integrate Google's SPDY protocol into its product offerings. Site Optimizer, which is also available as a hardware appliance, simplifies Web Content Optimization from a lengthy and complex coding process into an automated function. For more information, visit www.strangeloopnetworks.com.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6813277&lang=en