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What Is RUM (Real User Monitoring)?

Purpose

Explain what Real User Monitoring (RUM) is and how Speed Layer uses it to measure and improve shopper experience.

What RUM is

Real User Monitoring collects performance metrics from actual visitors on your site. It reflects real devices, real networks, and real user behavior.

How Speed Layer uses RUM

Speed Layer uses real user experience data to:

Measure whether key pages improve over time
Validate that changes help real shoppers, not just lab tests
Compare experience when Speed Layer optimizations are running vs when they are not

This matters because Speed Layer can operate in different states:

Active state: optimizations run
Control state: optimizations are not applied, so you can measure a baseline

What RUM can measure

RUM can capture metrics such as:

Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, INP)
Supporting metrics (FCP, TTFB)
Breakdowns by device type and page path

Public references:

Google: Core Web Vitals https://web.dev/vitals/
Google: Web Vitals measurement overview https://web.dev/vitals-measurement-getting-started/

How to use RUM responsibly

Focus on trends and percentiles, not single sessions.
Segment by page type and device.
Compare active vs control using the same time window and the same traffic mix.

What Is CrUX (Chrome UX Report)?
CrUX vs RUM: When to Use Each
How Speed Layer Uses Real-User Data

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