Over the last year retailers have been noticing the ‘George effect’, with certain childrenswear brands seeing items in high demand, driven by Prince George’s endorsement. 

Petit Bateau saw its dungarees sell out when the Prince was photographed wearing them on his first birthday.

Prince George isn’t the only celebrity to generate sales for retailers via an endorsement. Kate Middleton continues to influence retailers’ sales so much so that maternitywear specialist Seraphine experienced a “complete surprise” rise in sales and even Kim Kardashian’s visit to Thailand sparked a rise in bookings there for Hotels.com.

While a designer’s dream, these celebrity connections are also driving traffic to retailers’ sites when they don’t always expect it – sometimes causing massive headaches for both customers and sellers alike.

If brands don’t have the back-end technology in place to deal with peak sales or traffic booms and their website crashes or transactions fail it could potentially damage their brand, as well as losing sales.

Paul Heywood, director for EMEA at internet performance expert Dyn, says: “The back-end infrastructure to cope with an unexpected traffic peak is essential. Brands cannot afford to lose out because of a website malfunction or a transaction failure.

“In addition to speed, retailers still need to offer a great customer experience; even at busy times. There shouldn’t be a difference in the quality of your site whether you access it in the UK or US. Thinking about your customers throughout the whole journey is crucial to success.”