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<p>At the moment, visitors to the site are greeted by this <a href="http://www.debenhams.com/">holding page</a>:</p>
<p>
<img alt="Debenhams website error" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/3048329754_b313474c8d_o.jpg" />
</p>
<p>The message talks about <em>'unprecedented demand</em>', but surely the company could have predicted that putting on a 25% discount offer would lead to higher than expected demand on the site, and taken steps to cope with this.</p>
<p>After all, M&S had a similar sale yesterday, and its website clearly managed to cope with the extra traffic without too many problems.</p>
<p>We looked at this issue before in relation to the <a href="/blog/2987-how-is-m-s-handling-its-pre-xmas-sale-online">Northern Rock website</a>, which itself struggled to cope with the strain after its well publicised problems last September.</p>
<p>Perhaps a more scalable hosting set up would be a good idea for Debenhams, as being down for nearly 24 hours is a massive blow in terms of missed sales for a big name retailer.</p>
<p>
<strong>
<em>Graham Charlton is a researcher at E-consultancy. Find him on Twitter </em>
</strong>
<a href="http://bit.ly/BcZh">
<strong>
<em>here </em>
</strong>
</a>
<em>
<strong>.</strong>
</em>
</p>
<p>
<strong>Related articles:<br /></strong>
<a href="/blog/2981-what-should-continue-shopping-mean">What should 'continue shopping' mean?</a>
<br />
<a href="/blog/2982-top-10-tips-for-retailers-to-combat-the-economic-downturn">Top 10 tips for retailers to combat the economic downturn</a> </p>
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<Paragraph>At the moment, visitors to the site are greeted by this <Link URL="http://www.debenhams.com/" Window="Self">holding page</Link>:</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>
<Image AlternateText="Debenhams website error" Source="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3282/3048329754_b313474c8d_o.jpg">
</Image>
</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>The message talks about <Quote>'unprecedented demand</Quote>', but surely the company could have predicted that putting on a 25% discount offer would lead to higher than expected demand on the site, and taken steps to cope with this.</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>After all, M&S had a similar sale yesterday, and its website clearly managed to cope with the extra traffic without too many problems.</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>We looked at this issue before in relation to the <Link URL="/blog/2987-how-is-m-s-handling-its-pre-xmas-sale-online" Window="Self">Northern Rock website</Link>, which itself struggled to cope with the strain after its well publicised problems last September.</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>Perhaps a more scalable hosting set up would be a good idea for Debenhams, as being down for nearly 24 hours is a massive blow in terms of missed sales for a big name retailer.</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>
<Emphasis>
<Quote>Graham Charlton is a researcher at E-consultancy. Find him on Twitter </Quote>
</Emphasis>
<Link URL="http://bit.ly/BcZh" Window="Self">
<Emphasis>
<Quote>here </Quote>
</Emphasis>
</Link>
<Quote>
<Emphasis>.</Emphasis>
</Quote>
</Paragraph>
<Paragraph>
<Emphasis>Related articles:<LineBreak /></Emphasis>
<Link URL="/blog/2981-what-should-continue-shopping-mean" Window="Self">What should 'continue shopping' mean?</Link>
<LineBreak />
<Link URL="/blog/2982-top-10-tips-for-retailers-to-combat-the-economic-downturn" Window="Self">Top 10 tips for retailers to combat the economic downturn</Link> </Paragraph>
</FormattedContent>
2008-11-21T15:22:00+00:00
0
1
econsultancy_xml
<p>
<strong>It seems that Debenhams' website has been unable to cope with the extra demand placed upon it by its pre-Xmas sale, and it has been down since yesterday afternoon.</strong> </p>
<p>I looked at the site <a href="/blog/2987-how-is-m-s-handling-its-pre-xmas-sale-online">yesterday morning</a> and noted that it was becoming pretty slow to load, and it seems that the site <a href="http://www.internetretailing.net/news/debenhams-site-crashes-out-of-action-as-a3200m-sale-begins-2014-but-m-s-holds-up">finally buckled</a> under the strain of the extra traffic around 3pm.</p>
<FormattedContent xmlns="http://www.e-consultancy.com/schema/formattedContent/">
<Paragraph>
<Emphasis>It seems that Debenhams' website has been unable to cope with the extra demand placed upon it by its pre-Xmas sale, and it has been down since yesterday afternoon.</Emphasis> </Paragraph>
<Paragraph>I looked at the site <Link URL="/blog/2987-how-is-m-s-handling-its-pre-xmas-sale-online" Window="Self">yesterday morning</Link> and noted that it was becoming pretty slow to load, and it seems that the site <Link URL="http://www.internetretailing.net/news/debenhams-site-crashes-out-of-action-as-a3200m-sale-begins-2014-but-m-s-holds-up" Window="Self">finally buckled</Link> under the strain of the extra traffic around 3pm.</Paragraph>
</FormattedContent>
false
2989
<p>Refer also to Econsultancy's <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/user-experience-buyers-guide">User Experience Buyer's Guide</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/effective-web-design-best-practice-guide">Effective Web Design Guide</a></strong> for more information about best practice in these areas.</p>
<p>Refer also to Econsultancy's <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/user-experience-buyers-guide">User Experience Buyer's Guide</a></strong> and <strong><a href="http://econsultancy.com/reports/effective-web-design-best-practice-guide">Effective Web Design Guide</a></strong> for more information about best practice in these areas.</p>
366765
Debenhams' website cracks under the strain
false
2008-11-21T15:47:00+00:00
debenhams-website-cracks-under-the-strain
2009-04-30T05:58:28+01:00
2009-10-13T09:53:17+01:00
1341