Chrome for the holidays

Google's Chrome browser is picking up some good press these days. In speed tests conducted by ExtremeTech, Chrome was deemed significantly faster at page loads and other tasks than either Firefox or IE. And CNET reports that although Chrome usage trails that of IE and Firefox by quite a bit, it's still gaining traction and market share. But all that good press can lead to some problems when it comes to online holiday shopping, according to Web performance monitor firm Gomez.

Chrome is brand new, and as more people try new browsers, and migrate away from traditional market leader IE, Web retailers haven't had time to shore up their sites to make sure they work with every OS/browser combination currently in the mix. And that could lead to performance, usability and checkout problems.

Gomez's Matt Poepsel says that while the majority of e-tailers optimize for IE, Chrome and other new browsers now make up a full 30% of worldwide market share. Since new browsers tend to be used by younger, more tech-savvy shoppers, many of those e-tailers could see their sales drop due to incompatibility problems.

"Today's shoppers expect a 'Google-like' experience, wherever they shop online, whatever browser they use," Poepsel says. "In this weak economy where retailers are counting on e-commerce to pick up the slack for physical stores and online shoppers are eagerly searching for bargains, the stakes are higher than ever."

And while e-tailers need to take these new browsers into account, they may be wise to focus on Chrome especially because it's on the rise and outperforming the rest of the pack. Better browser performance leads to better online experiences -- and more purchases overall. Optimizing for Chrome, with its speed lead, may make sense in the long run.

• E-commerce
• Software
• browsers
• Chrome
• compatibility
• e-tailer
• FireFox
• Google
• IE
• online shopping
• Opera
• performance
• speed