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Online Retail

Accelerate Online Retail by Delivering a Fast and Reli-able Consumer Experience

Akamai in

As worldwide broadband penetration increases, so do consumer expectations.

Fortunately, Web 2.0 has arrived. Web 2.0 is a key reason that consumers are

increasingly turning to the Web for entertainment and information, and as their

primary shopping channel. As a retailer, Web 2.0 offers you an unprecedented way

to interact and connect with shoppers, build stronger brand loyalty, and encourage

repeat purchases.

But while this revolution has enhanced your interactions with customers, it has also

shifted the balance of power to consumers. Through social media – such as user-

generated content and social networks – your customers can instantly share their

experiences – both good and bad – with others around the globe. Collaboration,

sharing, and community are the consumer requirements for today’s online retailers,

with rich internet applications enabling site differentiation.

Embracing Web 2.0 and Increasing Revenues What does this mean for you? It means you have to use Web 2.0 to your advantage.

Fortunately, a host of technologies allow you to do just that. A new generation of

Web applications called Rich Internet Applications – created using sophisticated

technology such as Macromedia Flash, Flex, and AJAX – enables rich interactions and

tailored experiences. Other technology, such as RSS, allows you to distribute positive

consumer reviews to relevant sites, such as shopping and travel sites.

What all of these technologies have in common is dynamically generated content

– that’s what enables rich interactions, social networks, and personalized experiences.

And it’s what is behind retail applications such as product confi gurators and store

locators – applications that are more important now than ever. After all, more and

more consumers are researching products on the Web before making their purchase

from a store or in a showroom.

SAMPLE COMMERCE SITE APPLICATIONS WITH DYNAMICALLY-GENERATED CONTENT

• Product confi gurator • Reservation system• Shopping cart• Store locator• Search• Real-time product catalog• Dynamic image rendering

Web 2.0: A New Era in Retail

“As Europe’s number one IT reseller, it is essential that our online channel works to our customers’ advantage as well as supporting our sales. Using Akamai means that we can offer e-mail image downloads to our customers and support online marketing campaigns that are both innovative and effective, giving our customers quick downloads and performance as well as a secure and reliable online experience. This is achieved without the huge infrastructure expenses that would normally be associated with our rapid growth.”

Robert Muir

European e-Commerce Manager, Misco

One-third of broadband consumers will wait no longer than 4 seconds for a page to load before abandoning the site.1 Jupiter Research

While dynamically generated content offers an unprecedented opportunity to

engage with your consumers, rendering pages on-the-fl y can lead to delays—and

even failures—in delivering content. And when you deliver dynamic content and

applications from your site, it places tremendous stress on your Web infrastructure. On

top of that, you must contend with Internet issues that are beyond your control. Such

problems may mean that prospects and customers experience poor performance – if

they can access your site or applications at all.

The fact is that traditional Web infrastructure does not cope effi ciently or cost

effectively with the highly variable and unpredictable nature of consumer demand –

especially in the era of Web 2.0. This unfortunate reality can turn the most successful

product promotion into a company’s biggest nightmare. As an overwhelmed Web site

buckles under heavy demand, hoards of frustrated and angry customers are left in its

wake.

Or consider this – what if 50% of consumers using your online store locator plan to

make an in-store purchase? If your store locator isn’t working, they might just turn to

your competitor instead. The same can be said of your shopping cart application – if

transactions are sluggish, your customers might decide to shop elsewhere.

When it comes to delivering dynamically generated transactions and interactive

content, your Web infrastructure must provide superior performance for all

consumers, regardless of their location. Your site must also scale to handle high traffi c

load during peak usage periods. And it needs to be available to your customers 24x7,

regardless of conditions on the Internet. Strong site performance and availability

enhance the customer experience and decrease the likelihood of abandonment. This

translates into increased conversion rates and revenues for you.

WITH AKAMAI, LEADING LABEL MAKER MANUFACTURER DYMO CORPORATION IMPROVED SITE PERFORMANCE, RESULTING IN:

Delivering Dynamically Generated Content: The Challenges

“We implemented Akamai Online Commerce in late September, Three weeks later we noticed a substantial downtick in our shopping cart

abandonment rate.”

Gavin Galtere

Director Network Operations, FootSmart.com

65% of online shoppers would stop or reconsider shopping at a company’s physical store if they had a poor online experience.2 Gomez. Inc.

85% 12% 10–12% Increase in online sales

Increase is site conversion rate

Increase in average order size

“Simply put, over our two years of experience with their services, Akamai consistently delivers 15% more buyers. It’s clear that our decision to work with Akamai back in 1999 is still one of the best business and IT decisions we’ve made”

Val Agostino, Director of Software

Applications, eBags

Akamai Dynamic Site Solutions enable you to accelerate dynamic, highly interactive

Web sites – making the Internet a reliable and effective channel for conducting

business. Built on the Akamai Platform – the most pervasive platform for content

delivery and Web site acceleration – the solution extends retail Web sites and

applications to the Internet edge. This means your content and applications are closer

to your consumers. Dynamic Site Solutions accelerate the end user response times

associated with today’s dynamically-generated applications as well as the interactivity

between the consumer’s browser and the site. The result is higher availability, superior

performance, and greatly increased scalability for your retail site.

Why Retailers Choose Akamai

Akamai Dynamic Site Solutions have helped many of the world’s leading retailers

embrace Web 2.0 and increase revenues. In fact, Akamai serves content and

applications for more than 300 of the world’s leading retailers, including the top 5

global e-retailers. The following case studies are examples of the many retailers that

have realized success via the Akamai network and Dynamic Site Solutions.

With Akamai Dynamic Site

Solutions, you can successfully

use Web 2.0 technologies to

enhance consumer interactions,

build stronger brand loyalty, and

increase revenues. Benefi ts of

Dynamic Site Solutions include

the following:

The Akamai Solution for Retail Success

Benefi ts of Akamai Dynamic Site Solution

“Our clients expect us to deliver quality video content where and when they need it, and in volume, so for us having Akamai as part of our delivery platform was the obvious choice.”

Steve Masters, Managing Director,

Laptopshop

“Increased site speed undoubtedly has been a major contributor to all of the benefi cial effects we’ve seen on our sites over the past few months. Without Akamai, there is no way that a 100% increase in online bookings could have occurred.”

Scott Ohman, Manager E-Business

Commercial, Cathay Pacifi c

SPEED

Dynamic Site Solutions accelerate the

delivery of both static and dynamic,

application-generated content, even

if it is uncacheable. The solution can

even manage application data calls

from the edge of the network, such

as for infrequently changing data that

is not time-sensitive. And it can apply

these technologies to dynamic content

associated with personalization. Dynamic

Site Solutions can even increase the

effective download speed of your

application content to consumers, as well

as accelerate the display of entire pages

– no matter what’s on the page. Even

during peak traffi c to your site, Akamai

ensures predictable site performance.

SCALABILITY

The solution absorbs your peak traffi c

– regardless of the number of site

visitors or their location – and eliminates

as many calls back to the origin as

possible. The large, globally distributed

EdgePlatform network enables this and

relieves you of the need to purchase

additional infrastructure

What’s at Stake?

“Because the site performs better, our customers’ shopping experience is more enjoyable, and that translates into increased sales.”

Mark Richardson, Creative Services

Director, Sierra Trading Post

“Apple and Akamai have consistently delivered the highest performance, highest quality streaming video and audio over the Internet.

Philip Schiller, SVP Worldwide Product

Marketing, Apple

According to IMRG (Interactive Media in Retail Group), a quarter of all UK purchases

will be carried out online or via a mobile device by 2009. The IMRG also predicts that

e-retail sales in 2007 will rise by 40% to £42 billion and will account for nearly 40%

of all UK retail sales by 2020. If 2006 is any indication, this trend will impact retailers

signifi cantly. Here is just a sampling of how shoppers behaved in the UK in 2006:

90% of shoppers researched goods online – then bought them offl ine

And these trends will impact retailers in a range of industries. Consider what consumers are buying online in the UK4:

52% of consumers planned to reduce their high-street spending in lieu of online purchases

£30 billion of offl ine retail sales were impacted by Internet information, research, or incentives

Over half of adult Internet users buy holidays online

Around 1 in 5 users buy their groceries online

53% buy music and fi lms

AVAILABILITY

Regardless of what type of content you

are serving, your site must be available

for consumers to take advantage.

Unfortunately, Internet outages – beyond

the control of any single Web site – are

unpredictable and potentially costly in

terms of revenues and customer loyalty.

Dynamic Site Solutions identify and avoid

Internet problems by leveraging Akamai’s

globally distributed network of servers

coupled with advanced intelligent routing

technology. A failover option allows your

dynamic content to be delivered, even

when your origin site is unavailable.

SECURITY

In spite of the fact that your site and

applications are increasingly at risk

of outside attacks, you must ensure

uptime. But as a retailer operating on

razor-thin margins, you have to do this

without adding expensive equipment,

software, and personnel, or deploying

mirrored sites. Dynamic Site Solutions

uses techniques that deliver your content

and applications with the greatest speed

and reliability, even in the face of attacks

that affect the performance of the entire

Internet.

CONTROL

To fully benefi t from extending

dynamic content and rich Internet

applications across a distributed

network, you must maintain control

of your content. Akamai enables

you to confi gure how your content

is cached and served. You also have

access to reporting and alerting tools

that deliver insight into how your

extended content and application

infrastructure is functioning at all

times.

90% 52% £30

Around a third of Internet users purchase books, clothes, and sporting goods

35% buy tickets for events online

A fi fth of people buy their insurance online

1 in 3 Internet users buy computer software online.

When Marks & Spencer decided to enter the world of online commerce, it faced a

daunting challenge: living up to its reputation for high quality, value and service in

an entirely new channel. Part of the strategy called for making the online shopping

experience as rich and personal as possible, with thousands of high-quality images,

shopping tools, and other bandwidth-intensive features. What’s more, the retailer

needed to ensure availability and high performance through a variety of seasonal and

marketing-driven traffi c spikes. This included a series of online-only 20% discount

days that would be promoted via TV, radio, and print advertising—as well as online.


Akamai Acceleration Boosts Marks & Spencer’s Online Orders by 100%

“In 2005 we would not have been able to achieve what we did without Akamai. It is the cornerstone of our online business.”

Ian Christie, Head of IT Solutions, Marks &

Spencer Group

• Increased customer order rates by 100%

• Achieved a fi ve-fold increase in visitor traffi c and bandwidth capacity

• Improved page download times for 56K modems by 35%

Marks & Spencer implemented the Dynamic Site Accelerator solution and realized the following results:

• Gained capacity to process 300% more orders per hour during special promotions

• Exceeded previous daily trading revenue records by over 200%

Redcats® USA (formerly Brylane) is America’s Specialty Catalog and E-Commerce

Leader™, with 10 catalogs and 12 e-commerce sites representing well-known brand

names such as Chadwick’s of Boston, Lerner Catalog, Jessica London, and Lane

Bryant Catalog. In 2003, Redcats USA was experiencing exponential growth across its

family of Web sites, putting a strain on its infrastructure and creating a tremendous

workload for the IT staff. As traffi c surged with each new catalog released and

high-resolution images taxed their existing infrastructure, Redcats USA needed a

solution that guaranteed a quality online experience without breaking the bank. After

considering the deployment of a dedicated group of image servers to quickly and

reliably serve images, Redcats USA approached Akamai for a more holistic solution.


Redcats® USA Delivers Superior Online Experience for E-commerce Success

“Any serious business with an online strategy needs to consider the benefi ts of using Akamai’s solutions and services. I don’t know how we could accomplish what we do today without using Akamai. It’s the equivalent of a company not using a phone system. You simply need it to run your business.”

Alex Betancur, Vice President of Online

Technology, Redcats USA

• Quickly and reliably serves more than 200 million pages views per month

• Enables Redcats USA to capture more online sales

• Supports marketing campaigns, peak traffi c, and traffi c growth without operational costs

Akamai Dynamic Site Accelerator fi t the bill perfectly, allowing the retailer to realize the following results:

• Allows Redcats USA to provide a superior online experience

• Reduces Web infrastructure costs and simplifi es management

• Enables fast time-to-market for new brands

• Upholds brand image

As the largest hotel fi rm in the world, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) fi lls

535,000 guest rooms in 100 countries with 120 million customers each year. And

as an e-commerce industry leader, IHG was the fi rst to offer online reservations in

the hotel industry, and the fi rst to enable customers to review, cancel, or modify

reservations online regardless of the origin of the reservation. How does IHG support a

high level of functionality for such a large and geographically dispersed user group? It

partners with Akamai.

IHG recognized early that customers equated its ability to deliver excellent service

online with its ability to provide great guest experiences in the hotels themselves.

As part of a larger strategy to ensure excellence across all operational areas, IGH

deployed Akamai Dynamic Site Accelerator. The solution ensures that booking

applications and customer support tools work without fail. It also ensures that

users can easily take advantage of enhanced site functionality, richer content about

the company’s hotels, and useful personalization enhancements that make travel

management more convenient. “Akamai has had a positive impact on our Web business, which has translated into increased revenues for InterContinental Hotels Group.”

Dell Ross

Director of Global E-Commerce Services,

InterContinental Hotels Group

InterContinental Hotels Group Improves ‘Look-to-Book’ Conversions and Increases Online Revenues


• Increased online sales due to measurable improvements in page download time, transaction processing speed, and overall site availability

• Signifi cantly improved “look-to-book” conversion rate

• $3.5 million in reservations booked online each day

With Dynamic Site Accelerator, IHG saw the following results:

• 70% of bookings done via Web

• Site performance and availability upholds brand image

• Support peak traffi c without additional infrastructure

• Recognized by Keynote as having fastest site in industry

• Can support global customers without fail

In 2001, Sony Corporation and Ericsson formed Sony Ericsson Mobile

Communications to deliver accessible mobile multimedia communication solutions

to customers worldwide. Part of the initial sales effort of the joint venture was based

on providing an exceptional online experience to a growing customer base. That’s

why Sony Ericsson chose Akamai EdgeSuite to ensure consistent, reliable, and secure

delivery of its Web site content—and meet an aggressive launch schedule without

additional Web infrastructure build-out.

Realizing the importance of differentiation, Sony Ericsson quickly set out to develop

innovative, practical online applications such as a dealer locator, phone confi guration

tools, and screen image downloads—all to help its customers gain the most from their

phones and, in turn, drive customer loyalty. A high level of functionality – combined

with ease of use and reliable performance – became the driving force behind all

of Sony Ericsson’s Web sites. However, maintaining adequate performance for

increasingly complex Java-based applications proved diffi cult. The company quickly

dismissed the build out of data centers in several regions to support content delivery

to its international customer base. Instead, Sony Ericsson chose Akamai to both

extend and simplify a Web infrastructure that currently supports more than 60 sites

and millions of visitors each month—saving millions of dollars in the process.

Sony Ericsson and Akamai Launch a New Age in Mobile Communications


• Improved performance worldwide by reducing dealer locator application response time by over 400%

• Increased online application availability from 92% to 100%

• Realized substantial infrastructure savings from reduced bandwidth, hardware, networking, and maintenance costs

• Offl oaded nearly 100% of Java application server processing to the Akamai network

With the Akamai solution in place, Sony Ericsson realized the following benefi ts:

• Reduced cost per user session by 33%

• Simplifi ed e-business infrastructure (reduced servers by 65%)

• Streamlined application maintenance and content management to support corporate goals

• Enabled faster time-to-market and lower development costs through reuse of object-oriented development components

• Helping Sony Ericsson build brand equity through premium services

“It’s of critical importance that Sony Ericsson leverage the Internet’s reach and economies of scale to enhance existing business processes and uncover new opportunities. EdgeComputingSM for Java will allow us to deploy applications that meet our requirements for 24/7 global business operations.”

Mats Frisk, Core Application Architect,

Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications

In January 1999, Victoria’s Secret aired its fi rst-ever Super Bowl commercial,

announcing a live Webcast of its Spring Fashion Show. The ad generated millions

of hits on www.VictoriasSecret.com within minutes, and the live Webcast drew a

record-breaking 1.5 million visitors worldwide. Success on this scale posed signifi cant

technical challenges, and many potential customers were unable to participate due to

the site’s inability to support the traffi c bursts.

In planning their next major online event, the 2000 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show

Webcast live from Cannes, Victoria’s Secret faced a choice: purchase and deploy an

immense number of servers to handle short-duration, high-traffi c events, or look

for a more cost-effective solution to provide capacity on demand. They turned to

Akamai, in partnership with IBM, to help deliver an incredible user experience through

improved traffi c management and faster content distribution. By deploying Akamai

EdgeSuite and Akamai Streaming, the client team ensured that the glamorous, high-

quality images and video that represent the Victoria’s Secret brand would load quickly

and reliably – through any traffi c conditions.

Victoria’s Secret Web Site Raises the Bar on Customer Experience with Content Delivery from Akamai and IBM


• Building brand equity with high-quality images

• Record traffi c from improved site performance

Specifi cally, Victoria’s Secret saw the following results:

• Saved 1 million dollars in infrastructure investments

• Freedom to focus on functional site enhancements that grow the business

“It’s one of those great situations where everybody wins. Akamai enables VictoriasSecret.com to effi ciently distribute content for our global e-commerce site while reducing the load on our infrastructure. This provides customers a fast, seamless user experience.”

Chris Evans

Webmaster, VictoriasSecret.com

Deliver a Great Online Shopping Experience with Web 2.0 and Akamai

While competition for customers is increasing, so are consumer demands. With

Web 2.0 technologies, you can create an experience that takes advantage of the

latest online trends – and that satisfi es consumer expectations. But delivering that

experience in a way that assures a seamless and consistent experience is another

matter. Reliably and quickly delivering the dynamically-generated content that fronts

the majority of Web 2.0 technologies is beyond the means of any retailer’s Web site

alone. Fortunately, there’s Akamai Dynamic Site Solutions.

With Akamai Dynamic Site Solutions, dynamically-generated content is delivered

quickly and reliably – for each consumer. The solution enables you to accelerate your

transactional and highly interactive Web sites securely – making the Internet a reliable

and effective channel for conducting business. With Akamai Dynamic Site Solutions,

you improve the speed, availability, scalability, and security of your site – all while

maintaining full control over your content and applications.

Dynamic Site Solutions supports the successful Web 2.0 applications of many of the

world’s leading retailers. Whether it’s helping Marks & Spencer increase online orders

by 100%, allowing the InterContinental Hotels Group to deliver booking applications

and customer service tools without fail, or enabling AUDI AG to offer enhanced model

confi gurators and promotional microsites, the Akamai solution helps ensure e-retail

success.

To fi nd out more about how Akamai can help you deliver a great online shopping

experience for your customers, visit www.akamai.com.

Take the Next Step

“ Since implementing Akamai, our Website performance and availability have signifi cantly increased, and both Comet and its customers can have confi dence in the Comet Website as a secure and available environment to purchase goods online.”

Phil Smoker

e-commerce IS controller, Comet

“ It is an important part of Boots’ business planning to increase the proportion of our business coming from online customers. We have seen real performance improvements to our website since we started to use Akamai’s services. As we move through 2007 we anticipate seeing an increase in the contribution that our online business will make to our overall growth.”

Russell Harte

Business Systems Manager at Boots

“Only Akamai allows us to guartantee full availability of our servers from the instant that the customer wants to place an order online. This is the case, no matter how heavy the traffi c is, even during the holiday shopping rush.”

Guillaume Poitrat

Direction des Etudes DARTY

“ The Akamai solution corresponds precisely to what I wanted: the best availability for our Website at the best price. Without Akamai, it would have been necessary to increase the number of our servers by a factor or 10, or even more.”

Stéphane Rios

Responsable Technique de

RueDuCommerce

Akamai® is the leading global service provider for accelerating content and business

processes online. Thousands of organizations have formed trusted relationships with

Akamai, improving their revenue and reducing costs by maximizing the performance

of their online businesses. Leveraging the Akamai EdgePlatform, these organizations

gain business advantage today, and have the foundation for the emerging Web

solutions of tomorrow.

Akamai Technologies GmbHPark Village, Betastrasse 10 b D-85774 Unterföhring, Germany Tel +49 89 94006.0

U.S. Headquarters 8 Cambridge Center Cambridge, MA 02142 Tel 617.444.3000 Fax 617.444.3001U.S. toll-free 877.4AKAMAI (877.425.2624)

www.akamai.com

About Akamai

Akamai is “The Trusted Choice for Online Business.”

For more information, visit www.akamai.com

“Akamai supported 4X the normal traffi c load on BestBuy.com, serving over 6.5 billion total hits for the month — 95% of all of the total traffi c requests. By reducing the load on BestBuy.com servers the company signifi cantly increased conversions and revenues, while avoiding costly, complex infrastructure buildout that would have remained largely idle for the rest of the year”.

Tom Mundt, IS Director, BestBuy

©2007 Akamai Technologies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or in partin any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited. Akamai, theAkamai wave logo are registered trademarks.Other trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.Akamai believes that the information in thispublication is accurate as of its publication date; such information is subject to change without notice.

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