Study: Leading Retail Sites Slow to Adopt AJAX

According to a recent survey of more than 200 online retailers, less than 20 percent of them are using Asynchronous JavaScript and XML techniques to build out their sites, and only about 6 percent use advanced AJAX techniques.

The survey, conducted by Brulant, an online systems solutions building and marketing company, during October and November of 2006, showed that many top retailers—including Ace Hardware, AutoZone, Bed Bath & Beyond, Books a Million, Circuit City Stores and Eddie Bauer—are not using AJAX on their Web sites. Retailers that are using AJAX include Abercrombie & Fitch, Amazon.com, Blockbuster, Crate and Barrel, and Gap.

For more on AJAX, see OpenAjax Grows, Sets Agenda

The Brulant study examined the policies of 115 leading online retailers over their use of both "simple" and "advanced" AJAX development. For the purposes of the study, simple AJAX was defined as when AJAX technology is used to retrieve additional product details prompted by hovering or clicking a quick-view link. Advanced AJAX was defined as when AJAX technology is used in the overall shopping experience to provide additional product detail information such as scrolling marketing spots and to add to cart functionality.

19.3 percent of study respondents said they have been using simple AJAX, and 6.1 percent said they were using advanced AJAX development.

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