Talbots Validates Peak Performance of New E-Commerce Web Site Using Gomez Web Load and Performance Testing

Talbots Validates Peak Performance of New E-Commerce Web Site Using Gomez Web
Load and Performance Testing
Performs "Real-world" Load Test to Understand Impact of Load on End-user
Experience

LEXINGTON, Mass., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Talbots, a leading specialty retailer
and direct marketer of women's apparel, shoes and accessories, recently
benefitted from an on-demand Web load test from Gomez, Inc. (www.gomez.com)
that helped optimize the peak performance of the completely redesigned
talbots.com Web site, prior to launch.

Talbot's new site was built using multiple Ajax and rich Internet applications
technologies, including third-party features like video, pop-up zoom, and wish
lists to satisfy customers' increasing expectations for rich and engaging
online shopping experiences. To proactively ensure the best end-user
experience especially during the upcoming holiday shopping season, Talbots
used Gomez's load test solution to evaluate how its site would perform under
peak loads from their online shoppers' point of view.

Gomez's solution enabled Talbots to create "real-world" load generated from
end-user-owned, consumer-grade desktop computers in different geographies,
using different local ISPs and connection speeds, and combine it with
high-volume, cloud-generated load. This unique approach helps businesses
assess Web site performance under peak loads from the "outside-in," by testing
all the elements that comprise a complex Web application including third-party
services and content delivery networks, and measuring response times as
experienced by end-users. This insight helps businesses find opportunities to
optimize performance even before a new application is launched.

"Web site speed and reliability are critical to successful e-commerce and
given the richness and complexity of our new Web site, being proactive about
testing was paramount," said Kate Goodman, Talbots' Director of E-Commerce.
"Gomez's 'real-world' load test provided us with the confidence we needed
going into the busy holiday shopping season."

"Load testing from inside-the-firewall or just using cloud-generated load
only assesses your infrastructure's headroom, not your customers' online
experiences," said Matt Poepsel, Gomez's VP of Performance Strategies. "Only
by testing from where your customers are located, on the types of computers
and ISPs they really use, can you truly preview how peak loads might cause
slow load times, errors and ultimately, shopping cart abandonment."

About Talbots

The Talbots, Inc. is a leading specialty retailer and direct marketer of
women's apparel, shoes and accessories. At the end of second quarter 2009, the
Company operated 588 Talbots brand stores in 46 states, the District of
Columbia, and Canada. Talbots brand on-line shopping site is located at
www.talbots.com.

About Gomez

Gomez, Inc. (www.gomez.com) is the leader in Web application experience
management, providing an on-demand platform that organizations use to optimize
the performance, availability, and quality of their Web and mobile
applications. The Gomez platform identifies business-impacting issues by
testing and measuring Web applications from the "outside-in" - across all
users, browsers, devices, and geographies - using a global network of over
100,000 locations. The self-service Gomez platform integrates Web load
testing, Web performance management, cross-browser testing, and Web
performance business analysis. Over 2,500 customers worldwide, ranging from
small companies to large enterprises - including 12 of the top 20 most visited
US Web sites - use Gomez to increase revenue, build brand loyalty, and
decrease costs.

Gomez is a registered service mark of Gomez, Inc. All other trademarks and
service marks are the property of their respective owners.

Visit the Gomez Blog: http://blog.gomez.com/
Follow Gomez on Twitter: @Gomez_Inc
Connect with Gomez on Facebook: http://companies.to/gomez/
Join the Gomez User Group on LinkedIn

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SOURCE Gomez, Inc.

Samantha McGarry, Gomez, Inc., +1-781-778-2783, smcgarry@gomez.com; or
Kristina Leblanc, +1-508-930-5636, kristinawleblanc@gmail.com