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January 04 2008
I can’t get no shopping satisfaction
You may have sold trailer loads of digital photo frames but did your customers really leave satisfied? A new survey tests the top 30 UK online retailers satisfaction levels and finds them wanting
Just looking at revenues to tell how well the online retail industry performed during the Christmas 2007 shopping season leaves many critical questions unanswered: How satisfied are customers that purchased, and is there a way to make them loyal year-round customers? And so on however the inaugural edition of the Top 30 UK Online Retail Satisfaction Index aims to answer these questions and more.
This report is the first to evaluate shopper satisfaction with the top 30 retail websites in the UK, based on a measurement of customer satisfaction by ForeSee Results using over 10,500 survey responses, collected between November 27 and December 17, referencing shopping experiences between November 13 and December 17.
The average customer satisfaction score with the Top 30 UK Online Retail Satisfaction Index is 66 (out of a possible 100) with Play.com, with a score of 76, topping the list of Top 30 retailers, followed closely by Amazon UK at 75. Rounding out the list of top tier retailers are eBay UK (72), QVC UK (71), HMV (70), Marks & Spencer (70) and eBuyer (70). Retailers scoring 60 or below are failing to satisfy shoppers, eroding loyalty and are missing a tremendous opportunity to leverage the web channel to improve their bottom line. B&Q and Le Redoute, with satisfaction scores of 53 and 58 respectively, fall to the bottom of the Top 30 list, with WH Smith (59), PC World (59) and Comet UK (60) and Currys (60) scoring just ahead of them.
The top 30 in full
1) Play.com 76
2) Amazon UK 75
3) ebay UK 72
4) QVCUK.com 71
5) HMV.co.uk 70
6) Marks & Spencer 70
7) Ebuyer 70
8) Tesco Direct 69
9) John Lewis 69
10) Screwfix Direct 69
11) Argos 67
12) Next 67
13) Waterstone’s 67
14) ASOS 67
15) Boots 66
16) M & M Direct 65
17) Littlewoods 64
18) ASDA (Wal-Mart) 64
19) Debenhams 63
20) Woolworths 63
21) Freemans 63
22) The Orange Shop 61
23) River Island 61
24) Kays 61
25) Currys 60
26) Comet 60
27) PC World 59
28) WHSmith 59
29) La Redoute 58
30) B&Q 53
ForeSee have also run this survey in the US and the comparison between the UK and US makes interesting reading. Whilst some UK online retailers report strong customer satisfaction during the important Christmas season, overall satisfaction with UK retailers lags their US counterparts during the same time period. The aggregate UK Top 30 customer satisfaction score of 66 is almost 11% lower than the aggregate score for the US Top 40 online retailers’ score of 74.
Does this point to a lack of good customer service in the UK or is it a difference in the way we perceive services? The only figures that are like for like are UK websites of US–based retailers, and in the results the UK sites score well below the US websites, the UK Amazon score is 75 while the US score is 9.3% better at 82,while WalMart/ASDA is 64 in the UK and the US is 15.6% better with 74. Which leaves us no the wiser, however as the US site for Amazon is near identical to the UK site and the UK Amazon site gets nothing but praise in the mainstream press we can only assume that it’s a cultural thing, and we’re just a bunch of miserable gits who will never be happy with the service we receive.
For the full commentary see http://www.foreseeresults.com/Form_HolidayTop30UK_Dec07.html you will need to register to download
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