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Compuware Gomez Introduces U.S. Retail iPhone App Benchmark

Gomez, the Web performance division of Detroit-based Compuware Corp. (Nasdaq: CPWR), has introduced the industry's first mobile application benchmark that measures the iPhone mobile application performance of fifteen leading U.S. retailers across three key metrics: response time, availability and consistency.

Gomez' mobile benchmarks, expanded in August to include the U.S. Retail web and mobile site performance indices, now include the iPhone mobile application benchmark for U.S. retailers. The mobile application benchmark, along with the US Mobile Retail Homepage Benchmark, which measures the performance of mobile-specific versions of retail bank websites, provide retailers with the industry's most comprehensive view of mobile performance.

Target's mobile application provided the fastest response time of all 15 retailers, at 0.8 seconds. Target also received a number one ranking for 100 percent availability along with Macy's, Newegg, QVC, Sears and Walmart. Amazon's iPhone application received the top ranking for consistency among the fifteen retailers. The first U.S. Retail Mobile Applications benchmark was measured from Sept. 19 through Oct. 3 on AT&T/iPhone.

"Mobile commerce applications that are going to meet retailers' business objectives need to first meet mobile users' expectations for speed and availability," said Matt Poepsel, vice president of performance strategies, Gomez. "Today's retailers are challenged to provide comprehensive, customizable, dynamic mobile applications that are extraordinarily fast and seamless, but mobile apps that do not meet users' performance expectations can be subject to poor reviews or ratings, or perhaps worse -- users simply ignoring the app."

Gomez has doubled the number of global Web and mobile performance benchmarks it has published for more than 10 years to more than 100 that include more than 3,000 companies in dozens of industries with data generated from over 20 million monthly tests. 

Gomez Web benchmarks involve testing the Web sites of target companies using a subset of the Gomez Network, which features more than 150 high-bandwidth "backbone" locations and more than 150,000 actual end-user "Last Mile" locations around the world.

Gomez Mobile benchmarks test mobile-specific versions of target Web sites. These are typically "streamlined" versions of websites that were created specifically with the mobile form factor and throughput speeds in mind.

Gomez Business Process benchmarks measure typical multistep processes -- such as purchasing a product or performing a stock trade -- across major brands in the same industry.

For more details on Gomez benchmark methodology, go to www.gomez.com/benchmarks/methodology.

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