great expectations for the mobile web

8/3/2019 Great Expectations for the Mobile Web

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Great Expectations:

What Users Want From the Mobile Web Experience

W H I T E P A P

www.gomez.com



W H I T E P A P E R — G R E A T E X P E C T A T I O N S : W H A T U S E R S W A N T F R O M T H E M O B I L E W E B E X P E R I E N C E

With mobile, your Website is literally in your customers’ hands

But are you ready to meet their expectations?

Ater years o anticipation, the mobile Web is nally on the move. By 2013, the US mobile

Internet audience is expected to reach 134.3 million users.i One network alone, AT&T, has

seen its mobile data trac increase by fty times in just the last three years.ii And perhaps

the biggest name in mobile consumer products, Apple’s iPhone, has stimulated 3 billion

mobile application downloads since the opening o the App Store less than two years ago

With recent advances in mobile commerce, advertising cannot be ar behind. In act, theindustry anticipates a $1.56 billion mobile advertising market by 2013. iv Google and

Apple have both made high-prole mobile ad network acquisitions that are helping to

uel expectations.

Behind the scenes, exploding smartphone sales are urther driving this boom. Morgan

Stanley predicts smartphones will out-ship the global PC market (that’s desktops, laptops

and netbooks combined ) by 2012.v Smartphones already beat basic eature phones by

a actor o fve timesvi in complex services usage, such as email and Web browsing.vii

With great power comes great responsibility

The combination o more sophisticated devices, more powerul browsers and superior

connectivity — today’s WiFi and 3G networks speeds can be as much as six times aster th

their 2G and 2.5G predecessors — have elevated end-user expectations.

Consider the results o a recent Gomez study o more than 1,000 US mobile Internet users:

58% o users expect Website load speeds on their mobile devices to be comparable

to, or better than, what they experience on their desktops.

COMPANIES FEEL THE

MOBILE IMPACT

Mobile Websites and applications are

changing the way we do business.

Consider these examples:

• eBay : Its iPhone app has generated $400

million since launching in 2008

• Pizza Hut : In three months, Pizza Hut’s

mobile app surpassed $1 million in sales

• Marriott : More than $1.25 million in

bookings in the frst 100 days o its

mobile Website launch

Web page load expectation — mobile vs. home/laptop computer

A recent Forrester Research study ound similar results: today’s patience threshold or the

“wired Web” is just two seconds or page load time, down rom our seconds only three yea

ago. Looking ahead, expectations will only continue to rise. Within twelve to sixteen mont

the next generation in mobile connectivity, 4G networks, will make smartphones smarter,

networks aster — and end-users even more eager or immediate interactive gratication.

The message is clear: mobile users may be willing to trade some unctionality or the

convenience o mobile connectivity, but they will not sacrice speed or availability.




A look at our bellwether verticals

In the ollowing pages, we’ll examine perormance statistics and research gleaned rom

our key verticals: search, retail, banking and airline. These high-impact, high-trac, areas

expose crucial insights on the relationship between mobile Web perormance and market

leadership.

The data presented is a summary based on the ollowing two key perormance metrics tha

Gomez mobile Web benchmarks measure on a continuous basis:

• Response Time — How fast a given mobile Website homepage or multisteptransaction loads.

• Availability — Percentage of successful mobile Website homepage or multistep

transaction downloads out o total download attempts.

For more inormation concerning Gomez’s mobile Web benchmarks please reer to the

benchmark methodology section at the end o this whitepaper.

With Gomez’s research, you can compare your own site’s mobile Web perormance to

industry leaders across two vital metrics: Website availability and response time. Website

availability is a measure o your ability to be reached — ater all, your “store” will only make

money when it’s open to customers. And response time is directly tied to consumer

behavior. Bing has ound that a slowdown as small as 2 seconds leads to a 4.3% reduction

revenue per user.

By measuring your perormance against the best, you gain a more precise understanding

where your company stands — or where it needs to be.

Gomez’s mobile Website perormance benchmark

or the search sector evaluates a number o

perormance metrics including the response time

and availability o a 3-step transaction.

Gomez’s Mobile Web Benchmark — Search, April 2010




Mobile Search

I search is the 500-pound gorilla o the Web, it’s an even bigger beast in mobile. Given the

smaller screen size, hand-held devices encourage searching over browsing. More signicant

the “anytime, anywhere” appeal o smartphones stimulate impromptu searching when

shopping, travelling or pursuing leisure activities.

In act, the most recent search upgrades are designed to make mobile search even aster.

Google is leading a trend that would allow searches by location (leveraging GPS technology

by pictures (using built-in phone cameras) and even by voice input.

The graph below reveals average mobile Website availability (up-time accessible to the use

or a three-step search process across search industry leaders over the given time period.

“Tis link between increased usage and a aster user experience — be it search or mobile Gma

— reinorces something we at Google have known or a long time: ast is better than slow.”

Robert Hamilton, Product Manager, Google mobile teamxii

Key take-aways:

• At its low-point, availability averaged 97.44%, which represents roughly 18 hours

o downtime per month.

• At its high-point, availability averaged 99.05%, which still represents 7 hours lost

each month.

• Leadership: The category leader was also the lead perormer, with an average

of 99.62%.

• At the bottom end of the scale, category laggards dropped as low as 95.93%.

Gomez measured mobile Website response times using a consistent, three-step search

process with each search industry leader.

SNAPSHOT:

GOOGLE GOES MOBILE

• AsofJanuary2010,Googlehad68.2%

o the US mobile search market. Yahoo

followedat31.5%andBingtrailedat

adistant0.2%. xiii

• FromJanuary—September2009,

Google’s search page ranked #1 in

Nielsen’s top US Websites accessed

by mobile phones. xiv

• Google had a unique audience

of 27,913,000 in December 2009(The Nielsen Company). Average Mobile Website Search Transaction Availability, March 2009 – January 2010




Key take-aways:

• Transaction response times hovered within a 6-9 second window throughout the

testing period.

• Leadership: The category leader had an overall average of 3.39 seconds.

• Category laggards dipped as low as 10.56 seconds.

Benchmarks your site should meet or beat:

Availability: The average availability or the search category was 98.47%, equal to 11 hour

o downtime/month.

Response time: Average response time (or a three-step transaction) or the top ten searc

providers in an eight-month period was 7.40 seconds.

Average Mobile Website Search Transaction Response Times, March 2009 – January 2010




Focus on Mobile CommerceShopping is proving to be as popular on mobile devices as it has been on desktops.

Even in a recession year, ABI Research reports that mobile shopping increased more than

300% in one year, from $396 million in 2008 to $1.2 billion in 2009.xv Best Buy calculates

the number of its mobile visitors in FY2009 to be 6.5 million; in FY2010, they expect 17

million. In a survey of 2,000 smartphone users, Compete found that at least 68% of users

conduct some orm o mobile shopping activity such as looking or reviews, shipping

inormation or store coupons.xvi

Key take-aways:

• Average mobile Website home page availability between Dec. 2009 and

Jan. 2010 in retail hovered around 99.16%, the equivalent of about 6 hours of downtime per month.

• Leadership: The category leader led perormance with an availability average

o 99.88%.

• Category laggards went as low as 97.62%.

Key take-aways:

• Home page response times averaged 3.92 seconds between Dec. 2009

and Jan. 2010.

• Leadership: The category leader had an overall average o 2.05 seconds.

• Category laggards went as low as 5.90 seconds.


Availability: The average home page mobile retail home page availability was 99.16%.

“Mobile is very important to our strategy and will only become more critical as consumer

adoption and usage becomes more widespread”.

Steve Yankovich, vice president of platform business solutions and mobile, eBay xviii

THE NIELSEN GROUP RANKS THE TOP M-COMMERCE MERCHANTS

BY VISITOR VOLUME xv i i

ThetopfourasofOctober2009:

1. eBay :5.03millionvisitors,up26.7%from3.97millioninOctober2008

2. Amazon.com:3.51millionvisitors,up42.6%from2.46millioninOctober2008

3. GameSpot :2.58million,up33.6%from1.93millioninOctober2008

4. Netfix :1.85million,up240.6%from543,000inOctober2008




Response time: Average response time in the category was 3.92 seconds.

Mobile Banking

Banking-related interactions are among the most data-intensive, security-sensitive and popu

of all activities on the Internet. The mobile Web is no dierent. From 2007 to 2008, Bank of

America experienced a 300% growth in mobile customers. In April 2009, the bank had 2.2

million customers; by December 2009, that number had risen to 3.5 million. Bank of Ameri

attributes the opening o 150,000 new deposit accounts to its support or mobile bankingIndependent research supports the bank’s enthusiasm or mobile. According to ABI Research

by 2015 as many as 407 million people worldwide will bank by mobile phone, with 66

million rom North America. To date, the global number o users banking by mobile phone

more than doubled between 2008 and 2009, and is expected to double again in 2010.

Average Mobile Banking Website Homepage Availability, March 2009 – January 2010

“Mobile banking or retail customers will become a staple no diferent than online banking.”

Marc DeCastro, research manager for consumer banking, IDCxx

Overall, the banking industry made dramatic improvements in availability between March

2009 and January 2010.

Key take-aways:

• At its low-point, home page availability averaged 98.63%, representing about

10 hours o downtime per month.

• At its high, availability averaged 99.83%, equaling little more than 1 hour lost each

month.

• Leadership: The category leader led perormance with an availability average o

99.70%.

• Category laggards averaged 99.01%.




Average Mobile Banking Website Homepage Response Times, March 2009 – January 2010

Average response times remained consistent, reaching a slight improvement towards

the end o the year.

Key take-aways:

• Home page response times maintained a steady average of around 3.5 to 4.5 second

• Leadership: The category leader had an overall average o 3.02 seconds.

• Category laggards dipped as low as 5.08 seconds.


Availability: The average bank home page availability was 99.38%.





Mobile Airlines

The mobile Web is a perect t or customers on the go. In the airline industry, it means giv

ing fyers the ability to buy tickets, check fights and get boarding passes rom the devices

they have on hand.

Case in point: Nielsen reports that Delta Airlines’ mobile site and applications receive 995,0

unique visitors per month. And according to Jupiter Research’s “2010 Mobile Ticketing” re-

port, more than 2 billion boarding passes will be sold in 2010, with that number expected

reach 15 billion people by 2014.

“Ever since launching our platorm, m-commerce has been a vital part o our mobile strategy.

Many o our business customers use our mobile site to book their Luthansa tickets.”

Marcus Casey, director of global online sales and mobile services, Lufthansaxxiii

The airlines category took a signicant availability hit in the late-spring, early-summer

of 2009.

Key take-aways:

• At its low-point, home page availability averaged 94.62%, which represents more

than a day’s downtime per month.

• At its high, availability averaged 99.46%, equivalent to little more than 4 hours lost

each month.

• Leadership: The category leader held an average of 99.72% availability.

• Laggards went as low as 91.18%.

Average Mobile Airlines Website Homepage Availability, March 2009 – January 2010




In response times, airlines demonstrated (on the whole) steady degradation.

Key take-aways:

• Leadership: The best airline had an average home page response time o

3.00 seconds.

• Category laggards went as low as 4.87 seconds.


Availability: For airlines, home page availability averaged 98.26%.


Average Mobile Airlines Website Homepage Response Times, March 2009 – January 2010




High expectations demand top perormance:How does your mobile Website compare?

As adoption increases, networks accelerate, and mobile devices become even more

sophisticated, mobile Web activity will prove increasingly important to just about any

enterprise. But with these greater opportunities comes higher expectations or perorman

Speed and availability are inherent requirements o the mobile channel. According to AT&T

Chief Technology Ocer John Donovan, it’s not uncommon for iPhone owners to check astock 40 times a day. “Anytime a ‘Do Not Walk’ sign ashes in Manhattan, people pop on th

iPhones or that 30 seconds.” he says.xxiv With mobile Websites people expect quick, anytime

transactions that work fawlessly.

The mobile Website that ails to perorm a transaction at speeds that mimic mobile behavi

— standing in line, stopped on a sidewalk, or sitting in a bus — is unlikely to get consume

to use the mobile service again.

How well does your site perorm on the mobile Web? Use the benchmarks established in

our key verticals to see how you compare to the trendsetters and perormance leaders in

the mobile world.

Availability:

• Search — 3 Step Transaction: 99.62%

• Retail — Home Page: 99.88%

• Banking — Home Page: 99.70%

• Airlines — Home Page: 99.72%

• Your mobile site’s average availability: _________

Response Time:

• Search — 3 Step Transaction: 3.39 seconds

• Retail — Home Page: 2.05 seconds

• Banking — Home Page: 3.02 seconds

• Airlines — Home Page: 3.00 seconds

• Your mobile site’s average response time: _________

I you have limited insight into the experiences you deliver to your mobile customers, or

need to improve your mobile Website perormance to meet or beat mobile leaders, it is tim

to talk to an expert from Gomez. For deeper insights and assistance, call +1 781.778.2700 o

visit us online at Gomez.com.




Benchmark Methodology

Gomez created the Mobile Web Benchmark series to raise awareness o the importance o mobile technology

as a viable and important channel or Web application delivery. The purpose o the benchmark is to provide an

understanding o how industry leaders perorm on the mobile Web. The benchmarks in the Mobile Web Benchm

series include Gomez’s three undamental metrics: Availability, Response Time, and Consistency

Gomez’s mobile Web benchmarks can be accessed on Gomez.com

Search Transaction Benchmark Methodology

The Gomez Search Transaction Benchmark represents the Availability, Response Time, and Consistency o a typic

Search application on a mobile device across the nation’s largest online search rms.

In order to select the rms or this benchmark, Gomez used comScore Inc.’s Expanded Search Query Report

published in July 2008.

StepsPerformedforEachFirm

Gomez developed a specic task that a hypothetical mobile user wishes to accomplish. The task was predetermi

to ensure that there are no extraneous steps in the sequence and that an equal comparison across all rms is

enacted. The user’s intention or our testing scenario is:

• Home Page. Navigate to the home page of the mobile Web site. Type in a key word and select “Search.”

• Search Results Page. This page will contain specic search results for the search term used in the script.

Retail Home Page Benchmark Methodology

The Gomez Mobile Retail Home Page Benchmark represents the Availability, Response Time, and Consistency o a

typical online retail home page on a mobile device across the nation’s largest online retailers.

In order to select the rms for this benchmark, Gomez used the top 50 retailers listed in the 2009 Internet Retaile Top 500 Guide with a dedicated mobile presence.

Mobile Banking Home Page Benchmark Methodology

The Gomez Mobile Banking Home Page Benchmark represents the Availability, Response Time, and Consistency

o a typical OLB home page on a mobile device across the nation’s largest online banking rms.

In order to select the rms for this benchmark, Gomez used the combined top 10 banks that appear on the FDIC

top Holding 50 Bank Holding Companies by Deposits and Top 50 Commercial Banks and Savings Insti tutions by

Deposits.

Airline Mobile Home Page Benchmark Methodology

The Gomez Airline Mobile Home Page Benchmark represents the Availability, Response Time, and Consistency

o a typical air line home page on a mobile device across the nation’s largest online airline rms. Fortune 1000

companies rely on Gomez metrics to help maximize their Internet business eectiveness and to get the most ro

their technology investments.

In order to select the rms or this benchmark, Gomez used the list o Top 10 US Passenger Air Carriers by Market

Share as determined by the Bureau o Transportation Statistics.

Availability

Availability measures the percentage o successul transactions out o the total number o transaction attempts.

Availability rates are dependent on a number o var iables including availability o the mobile web site, ability to

process a transaction without error, and ability to complete each step o the transaction within a 60-second time

rame. Availability rates do not include server-side errors or technical errors incurred due to scripting problems.

These errors do occur rom time to time and are refected with an N/A (not available or not applicable) message

on the benchmark. Data points from all tests run on multiple testing locations and are aggregated to calculate th

average availability or the test period.

Response Time

Response Time metrics refect the time required to download each page in an entire multi-step transaction

(including all embedded objects, JavaScript, and cascading style sheets). Data points from each successful test ruare collected rom the multiple testing locations and are aggregated to ormulate the average response time or

test period. The resulting metric represents the average time required to execute the multi-step transaction witho

actoring in user latency.

Frequency o Tests and Testing Locations

Gomez monitors home pages and transactions rom our testing agents in each o three testing locations, one in

Lexington, MA, one in Chicago, IL and one in Seattle, WA. To access the mobile sites, Gomez’s testing inrastructu

uses nodes that are connected to the mobile internet. The tests simulate the Motorola RAZR V3 on AT&T, T-Mobil

Sprint, and Verizon.

Scripting Technology

All transactions collecting the three Gomez metrics use scripts generated with the Gomez Script Recorder and ar

deployed across the specied testing locations.



Gomez

10 Maguire Rd, Bldg3, Suite 330, Lexington, MA 02421

General Inquiries: +1 781-778-2700

Sales:

USA +1 781-778-2760

UK +44 (0)1753 626 632

Germany +49 (0)40 53299 207

www.gomez.com

©2010 Gomez, Inc. All rights reserved. Gomez® is a

registered service mark. All other trademarks and service marks

are the property o their respective owners.

About Compuware Gomez

Gomez, the Web perormance division o Compuware, provides the industry’s leading

solutions or optimizing the perormance, availability, and quality o Web and mobile

applications. The on-demand Gomez platorm integrates solutions or Web load testing,

Web perormance management, Web cross-browser testing, and Web per ormance busine

analysis that test and measure Web and mobile applications rom the “outside-in” — across

all users, browsers, devices, and geographies — using a global network o over 100,000

locations. When combined with Compuware Vantage, Gomez oers the industry’s onlysolution or optimizing application perormance across the Enterprise and the Internet.

Over 3,000 customers worldwide, ranging rom small companies to large enterprises —

including 12 o the top 20 most visited US Web sites — use Gomez solutions to increase

revenue, build brand loyalty, and decrease costs.

ihttp://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007236iiMary Meeker, “Economy and Internet Trends” Morgan Stanley, October 2009

iiihttp://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/01/05appstore.html

ivhttp://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/4291.html

vMary Meeker, “Economy and Internet Trends” Morgan Stanley, October 2009

viNorth American Technographics benchmark survey, Forrester 2009

viiNorth American Technographics benchmark survey, Forrester 2009

viiihttp://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/4248.html

ixhttp://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/4533.html

xhttp://www.marriott.com/news/detail.mi?marrArticle=369815

xihttp://radar.oreilly.com/2009/07/velocity-making-your-site-fast.html

xiihttp://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2008/03/fast-is-better-than-slow.html

xiiihttp://www.itpro.co.uk/613828/idc-warns-banks-to-prepare-for-mobile-banking

xivhttp://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/top-mobile-phones-sites-and-brands-for-2009/

xvhttp://www.abiresearch.com/press/1605-Shopping+by+Moble+Will+Grow+to+$119+Billion+in+2015

xvihttp://mobile.venturebeat.com/2010/01/05/android-and-iphone-users-are-the-most-active-mobile-shoppers/

xviihttp://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=33080

xviiihttp://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/commerce/4976.html

xixhttp://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=33124

xxhttp://thenanser.co.uk/fsclub/2009/12/bank-of-americas-mobile-numbers-are-shocking.htmlxxi

http://www.internetretailer.com/dailyNews.asp?id=33124xxii

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/article/15429/digital-life/use-of-mobile-boarding-passes-increasexxiii

http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/luthansa-mobile-oerings-take-o/ xxiv

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2009/tc20090823_412749_page_2.htm

great expectations for the mobile web

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