E-Tailers Get High Marks For Customer Service Over Holidays
ATLANTA–A survey has found that the majority of online shoppers are satisfied with the
level of customer service they received in the last three months. While the survey reported
that consumer spending for online purchases over the 2000 holiday season came in under
projections, that did not seem to impact the level of customer service e-tailers provided.
Of the 50 million U.S. adults covered by the statistical model of the Excellence in Customer
Service Survey, 74% who made online purchases over the past three months were very
satisfied with their experiences – a significant increase over similar studies conducted last
year. Results indicate that the number of repeat purchases will increase as the level of
customer service improves, with three-fourths of the online purchasers reporting that they
are very likely to make additional purchases from the sites where they received customer
service.
The survey, sponsored by Witness Systems and conducted earlier this month by International
Communications Research (ICR), highlighted challenges many e-tailers still face, specifically
with order fulfillment. According to the results, 19% of online purchasers received an
item late, and one in six plan to or have returned their purchases. “If e-tailers want to
survive in this market, they must realize that whether a customer walks into a store or
visits a Web site online, the expectation for good customer service does not change,” said
Lisa Hager-Duncan, CRM and business technology analyst for Gartner.
The survey also indicated that consumers value the ability to choose the communications
media in which they interact with companies. E-mail was cited above telephone, live text
chat and fax, which is good news for retailers since it is one of the most cost-effective
channels available today.
Witness Systems says these results support the need for companies to continue
focusing on Web-based customer service by raising their standards for these types of
interactions. They say e-tailers are beginning to dedicate more resources to effectively
communicate with their customers via e-mail and collaborative Web chat by implementing such
technologies as multimedia customer interaction recording and performance
analysis software.
“Just as agent-handled phone calls need to be reviewed for adherence to internal policies,
so do e-mails,” said Hager-Duncan. “Companies should establish a formal quality assurance
program for outbound e-mails that includes developing quality assurance evaluation forms,
an agent evaluation and review process, and agent training to make adjustments
for mishandled e-mails.”
“These survey results demonstrate that e-tailers have made steady progress toward
prioritizing and improving their Web-based customer service,” said Dave Gould, president
and CEO for Witness Systems. “E-tailers are getting the message that poor customer service
over the Web can hurt their businesses. By using such online best practices as recording
and analyzing performance, these organizations can help ensure customers are loyal to those
sites that provide sound online service.”
Other results from the Excellence in Customer Service Survey include:
- More than two-thirds of those surveyed purchased from an online
retailer within the past three months; one-third bought from a
technology retailer or travel-related Web site. - On average, online shoppers spent $488 on Internet purchases made
within the past three months. - Men made the most online purchases over the past three months and
on average spent $586 versus an average of $388 spent by women. - During the recent holiday season, men purchased more than 35
percent of their holiday gifts online, and women's overall
purchases during the same period totaled 24 percent. - Two-thirds of purchasers cited e-mail as their prefe
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