UK marketers not ready for online retail boom: survey
Published:16-January-2009
By Steve Evans
Peaks in Internet traffic not catered for
UK marketing executives are unprepared to cope with peaks in online traffic, according to research by online application delivery vendor Zeus Technology.
The survey quizzed 100 marketing executives and found that 46% did not know if they have a system in place to manage peaks in online web traffic. The majority (72%) of respondents said it would be a ‘complete disaster’ or a ‘major problem’ for their organisation if they were to experience downtime.
Just over half (53%) said that if their site was out of action for just one day, it would cost in excess of £10,000 in lost revenue.
One possible explanation for marketers lack of knowledge about provisions for dealing with peak in online traffic could be that 86% of respondents feel that the IT team would be held accountable if their website was to go down.
More worryingly, almost two thirds (65%) of marketing professionals never or rarely meet with their IT department to prepare for peaks in website traffic.
A marketing campaign can have a significant impact on the amount of traffic a website receives, for example a one day sale can result in a huge surge in visitors.
Graham Moore, e-retail specialist at Zeus, said: “Online promotions often attract high levels of traffic to sites but they are unlikely to be successful unless the marketing team works with the IT team to ensure solutions are in place to manage these peaks in demand.”
“Consumers won’t think twice about abandoning their purchase if they experience downtime or a slowdown in service, so addressing this issue is critical in coming months.”
Recent figures released by IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index revealed that December 2008 saw £4.67bn spent online, despite the worsening economic situation. James Roper, CEO of IMRG, told CBR that he expects the trend to continue, so it is vital that enterprises put measures in place cope with increased demand.
