Compuware (News - Alert) Corporation, a technology performance company, has unveiled its Compuware Performance Index, which offers a real-world view into the performance of top U.S. retailers' Web and mobile sites and highlights user satisfaction with their online experience in the upcoming holiday season.

Cyber Monday (News - Alert) 2011 is on target to be the single highest online shopping day in history and retailers are expected to equip themselves in order to meet the challenges associated with surging demand, particularly maintaining superior user experience and application response time.

The company explained that last year alone online shoppers spent $1 billion on Cyber Monday in what was then the largest online purchase day in history. This is a time when milliseconds of delay can make the difference between a customer completing a transaction or abandoning the site to shop elsewhere. In short, Web and mobile performance are critical business issues.

The company added that its Performance Index or “rank of ranks” provides the most comprehensive load testing measurement of Web and mobile performance for U.S. retailers with nine website metrics and 12 mobile site metrics. These metrics provide deep insight into how one’s customers are experiencing the site. It consists of a satisfaction index that shows the amount the satisfaction of the online experience is providing the customer, a mobile performance pulse thatdetails the way mobile sites performance when compared with a non-peak period, and website performance pulse that shows website performance.

Compuware said that it is no longer enough to monitor application performance; today's online retailers must be able to view and understand the user experience from the user's perspective. Without this insight it is impossible to ensure that customers are having smooth shopping experiences from browsing to final check out and delivery of products.