Almost half of UK retailers’ website experience downtime during seasonal peak periods including Easter, a new report suggests.

The study by cloud and managed services firm Cogeco Peer 1, which surveyed more than 100 UK e-commerce ‘decision makers,’ found that 40 per cent of retailers’ websites have experienced downtime during Easter and other seasonal peak periods.

It also found that 48 per cent did not feel completely ready for seasonal peaks in website traffic, with 58 per cent of UK retailers admitting that they faced page speed issues during seasonal peaks over the last year.

Peak holiday times such as Easter, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the Boxing Day sales represented over a £7 billion boom for the British economy in 2016.

Susan Bowen, vice president and general manager, EMEA at Cogeco Peer 1, said: “Retailers and brands are facing considerable challenges when selling online: from how to compete with the likes of Amazon and how social media is transforming shopping; to harnessing the power of automation and maintaining a uniform, effective online presence 24/7.

“The figures in the study highlight the need for UK retailers to act if they are to take full advantage of the revenue opportunities available during seasonal peak spending periods.”

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