Since last year, the median load time for home pages of top North American retail sites (the Alexa Retail 2000) has risen 9% from 5.94 to 6.5, finds Strangeloop Networks in a September 2012 report. While that figure was for first-time page views (and uses Internet Explorer 9 to replicate a typical end-user experience), repeat page view load times have also risen, up 15% from 1.83 to 2.16 seconds. This despite the expectation that faster browsers, networks, and devices enable a faster online experience.
The top 100 sites show even worse performance. At 7.14 seconds, the median load time for the Alexa Retail 100 is 10% longer for first time visitors than it was in 2011. Repeat views are 12% longer, going from 1.96 to 2.21 seconds. Read the rest at MarketingCharts.
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