In April, Google announced that page performance was now a factor in search engine rank.
Make no mistake, Google is still giving more ranking weight to page relevance, but if two similar sites have a difference in page-load time, Google will display that faster site first in search engine results pages.
Google's announcement comes on the heels of several studies showing that page performance is a key factor in user actions like clicking or continuing to engage with a site; user loyalty; and even whether or not a shopper will make a purchase.
Performance Is the Developer's Responsibility
Like it or not, the web developer is often responsible for site performance, and when page load times stall, your clients—whether customers or co-workers—are going to be looking in your direction.
But some elements of site performance may be built directly into an ecommerce platform, such as JavaScript concatenation or whether .js files are called in the head or at the end of a page, for example. So improving performance can be a lot of work if the very foundation you're building on is slow.
Platform Performance Tests
With this platform-versus-performance challenge in mind, I conducted a test of seven ecommerce platforms. While there are certainly many more platforms that I could have reviewed, these seemed like a nice sampling.
If you want to suggest a platform for a future ad hoc test, please say so in the comments at the end of this post.
For each platform, I found example sites. These example sites were taken at random from client or customer galleries offered on the platform's own site or listed on third-party sites if the platform provider did not publish a gallery.
For each platform, I tested the example sites three times with three separate performance tools, YSlow from Yahoo!; Page Speed from Google; and WebPagetest.
All test results are listed below, along with a representative screen capture for each. Note that Page Speed did not vary between tests on a given website; so only one score is listed for each site. For WebPagetest, I focused on page load time; used the San Jose, California server; and emulated Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 over ADSL at 1.5Mb per second.
All of the tests were conducted using a Windows-based PC over a cable modem at 10Mb per second average download speed. The client was based in the U.S. Mountain West. The browser cache was cleared between each test.
I conducted the YSlow and Page Speed tests with Mozilla Firefox.
While this is not technically a scientific test (I should have had the same site design and content tested across the platforms), it should give you a good idea of how each platform performs in various implementations, or least what potential the platform has for speed. With this information in hand, I would recommend that you do your own comparison of the platforms that make the most sense for your project or operation.
Shopify
Shopify is a well-respected software-as-a-service (SaaS) ecommerce platform provider. The company has a very stable core with a number of extensions available in its "app" store. The company promotes its platform's flexibility, and had the single fastest site tested.
Shopify Test Sites
YSlow Scores
- Golf Cart Tires N More—E 56; E 52; E 52
- Dace—C 72; C 74; C 74
- Foo Fighters—D 69; D 66; D 66
- eBoy Shop—C 74; D 69; D 69
- One + Only—C 76; C 73; C 76
Page Speed Tests
- Golf Cart Tires N More—80/100
- Dace—79/100
- Foo Fighters—74/100
- eBoy Shop—69/100
- One + Only—74/100
WebPagetest
- Golf Cart Tires N More—11.246 seconds to load; 10.022 seconds; 6.991 seconds
- Dace—4.809 seconds; 2.84 seconds; 2.436 seconds
- Foo Fighters—5.8 seconds; 4.08 seconds; 5.004 seconds
- eBoy Shop—6.411 seconds; 6.992 seconds; 5.756 seconds
- One + Only—4.133 seconds; 7.295 seconds; 5.218 seconds
ATG
ATG offers cross-channel solutions to some of the world's best-known retail brands. The company has clients on every continent, and has a reputation for success.
ATG Test Sites
YSlow Scores
- American Eagle Outfitters—D 61; E 58; D 60
- Bluefly—D 64; D 60; D 64;
- OfficeMax—D 65; D 62; D 62
- Best Buy—D 65; D 62; D 62
- JCPenney—D 69; D 61; D 69
Page Speed Tests
- American Eagle Outfitters—68/100
- Bluefly—76/100
- OfficeMax—76/100
- Best Buy—72/100
- JCPenney—77/100
WebPagetest
- American Eagle Outfitters—9.326 seconds to load; 9.615 seconds; 9.380 seconds
- Bluefly—5.747 seconds; 5.671 seconds; 5.51 seconds
- OfficeMax—5.144 seconds; 5.252 seconds; 5.156 seconds
- Best Buy—5.155 seconds; 5.047 seconds; 4.898 seconds
- JCPenney—3,431 seconds; 3.211 seconds; 3.462 seconds
AspDotNetStorefront
AspDotNetStorefront is a feature-rich platform. In fact, version 9 even supports multiple storefronts, which is increasingly important for international ecommerce or multi-brand stores.
AspDotNetStorefront Test Sites
YSlow Scores
- Indian Motorcycles—C 73; C 70; C 71
- Home Security Store—D 60; E 57; E 57
- Dr. Martens USA Store—C 73; D 69; C 73
- West Coast Corvettes—D 62; D 61; D 65
- Theresa Kathryn—D 69; D 65; D 65
Page Speed Tests
- Indian Motorcycles—84/100
- Home Security Store—69/100
- Dr. Martens USA Store—71/100
- West Coast Corvettes—67/100
- Theresa Kathryn—72/100
WebPagetest
- Indian Motorcycles—9.09 seconds to load; 8.346 seconds; 8.897 seconds
- Home Security Store—9.956 seconds; 8.184 seconds; 7.937 seconds
- Dr. Martens USA Store—6.875 seconds; 6.1 seconds; 5.905 seconds
- West Coast Corvettes—12.915 seconds; 13.774 seconds; 13.567 seconds
- Theresa Kathryn—5.008 seconds; 4.845 seconds; 4.255 seconds
Volusion
Volusion is a premier SaaS ecommerce platform known for its PCI compliance and stability.
Volusion Test Sites
- Disney Educational Production
- Kalyx Sports Apparel
- John Christian
- American Workwear
- Professional Bull Riders Limited
YSlow Scores
- Disney Educational Production—D 66; D 66; D 64
- Kalyx Sports Apparel—D 64; D 60; D 60
- John Christian—D 63; D 60; D 60
- American Workwear—D 62; E 59; E 59
- PBR Ltd.—D 62; E 58; E 58
Page Speed Tests
- Disney Educational Production—85/100
- Kalyx Sports Apparel—79/100
- John Christian—61/100
- American Workwear—68/100
- PBR Ltd.—61/100
WebPagetest
- Disney Educational Production—4.937 seconds to load; 3.782 seconds; 4.298 seconds
- Kalyx Sports Apparel—4.565 seconds; 4.362 seconds; 5.32 seconds
- John Christian—4.865 seconds; 8.280 seconds; 4.575 seconds
- American Workwear—13.657 seconds; 19.548 seconds; 13.696 seconds
- PBR Ltd.—11.982 seconds; 15.601 seconds; 11.811 seconds
Miva Merchant
Miva Merchant is a mature cart platform with a significant number of established merchants. The cart continues to improve, adding new features and offerings.
Miva Merchant Test Sites
YSlow Scores
- Mobile Home Parts Store—E 58; E 54; E 54
- Live Superfoods—E 59; E 56; E 53
- Your Breed Clothing—E 56; E 56; E 58
- Mezzetta—E 58; E 58; E 58
- Sticker Giant—A 92; B 87; B 87
Page Speed Tests
- Mobile Home Parts Store—61/100
- Live Superfoods—61/100
- Your Breed Clothing—80/100
- Mezzetta—67/100
- Sticker Giant—95/100
WebPagetest
- Mobile Home Parts Store—21.026 seconds to load; 18.779 seconds; 20.381 seconds
- Live Superfoods—18.067 seconds; 21.409 seconds; 17.650 seconds
- Your Breed Clothing—9.550 seconds; 8.970 seconds; 10.476 seconds
- Mezzetta—5.467 seconds; 5.425 seconds; 5.427 seconds
- Sticker Giant—5.541 seconds; 5.177 seconds; 8.023 seconds
Yahoo! Merchant Solutions
Yahoo! Merchant Solutions has two important distinctions. First, it hosts more top 500 online retailers than any other platform, and second, Yahoo! is reportedly trying to sell the platform.
Yahoo! Merchant Solutions Test Sites
YSlow Scores
- Candy Warehouse—D 67; D 65; D 65
- Simplehuman—D 66; D 61; D 61
- American Pearl—C 78; C 75; C 75
- DellaModa—E 56; E 56; E 55
- Tiny Revolutionary—C 76; C 72; C 70
Page Speed Tests
- Candy Warehouse—80/100
- Simplehuman—67/100
- American Pearl—85/100
- DellaModa—70/100
- Tiny Revolutionary—82/100
WebPagetest
- Candy Warehouse—6.157 seconds to load; 5.621 seconds; 6.037 seconds
- Simplehuman—5.713 seconds; 6.36 seconds; 6.082 seconds
- American Pearl—5.747 seconds; 4.996 seconds; 4.684 seconds
- DellaModa—9.755 seconds; 11.302 seconds; 9.527 seconds
- Tiny Revolutionary—5.779 seconds; 5.821 seconds, 5.854 seconds
Magento
Magento is, perhaps, the world's most popular ecommerce platform with more than 50,000 live merchant sites and 1.5 million downloads. The company's name is searched more often in Google than the term "ecommerce." And although Magento does have paid versions, it is the only platform tested that offers a basic platform for free.
Magento Test Sites
YSlow Scores
- Lodger—A 90; A 90; B 89
- Time Out—E 59; E 54; E 57
- Myla—C 74; C 71; C 71
- FlattenMe—C 77; C 74; C 74
- Thomas Dean—C 77; C 74; C 77
Page Speed Tests
- Lodger—84/100
- Time Out—67/100
- Myla—70/100
- FlattenMe—73/100
- Thomas Dean—76/100
WebPagetest
- Lodger—20.958 seconds to load; 16.972 seconds; 19.446 seconds
- Time Out—9.152 seconds; 10.450 seconds; 9.899 seconds
- Myla—15.157 seconds; 15.081 seconds; 14.803 seconds
- FlattenMe—3.319 seconds; 2.901 seconds; 2.782 seconds
- Thomas Dean—6.369 seconds; 7.390 seconds; 5.499 seconds
Summing Up
The Shopify-based Dace site was the fastest loading of all of the sites tested with best-tested load time of 2.436 seconds, and the site even had a video playing on its home page. FlattenMe, which runs on Magento, put up the second best load time performance with a best-tested speed of 2.782 seconds.
The test also exposed significant differences between implementations. For example, Magento was also responsible for the very slow Lodger site, which ironically was one of the best sites tested according to YSlow. This seemingly contradictory result—YSlow versus page load time—may indicate that the Lodger site was optimized for performance in terms of front-end best practices (YSlow), but suffers from other challenges. In the Lodger site case, the web server's physical location or configuration might be to blame, since it took about 17 seconds for the server to respond to the browser's initial request and only about 3 seconds to actually load the page.
I hope this test results encourage you to compare platform performance on your next project.
