Expert-driven approach leads STELLAService toward the world’s most unbiased, objective measurement of online customer service performance
NEW YORK, NY, March 15, 2010 – STELLAService (www.stellaservice.com), the first completely independent customer service ratings agency, announced today its formal launch with plans to bring transparency and authority to the measurement of customer service performance in e-commerce.
Through its experienced and independent Customer Service Analysts (“CSA’s), STELLAService has anonymously collected tens of thousands of data points across hundreds of customer service metrics for today’s leading Internet retailers. This data will be utilized by consumers to make more informed online purchasing decisions and by companies to obtain crucial business and industry intelligence. STELLAService intends to launch its STELLA Ratings later this month, which will provide the first ever, in-depth analysis of the customer service quality and capabilities of the country’s 150 largest Internet retailers.
The online marketplace is overloaded with thousands of retailers, many of which proclaim to offer outstanding customer service. All too often, however, their online help tools are hidden, their shipping, delivery and returns are unreliable, and their customer support teams lack the basic knowledge or skills to help customers solve simple problems. Additionally, community-driven ratings can sometimes add biased reviews of a seller’s service quality, which leaves consumers wondering what they should truly expect. STELLAService addresses this problem with a completely new approach.
"STELLAService was created to provide consumers with an unprecedented level of transparency around the customer service performance of online businesses,” said Jordy Leiser, co-founder and CEO of STELLAService. “Studies continue to show that customer service is one of the most critical factors in determining where online consumers shop, yet there is currently no available resource for consumers to completely and objectively benchmark one online store against another. By taking an independent approach in evaluating every possible element of the online customer experience, STELLAService will reveal a truly unbiased and comprehensive assessment of the kind of service you can expect from an Internet retailer. This will fundamentally improve the way consumers make online purchasing decisions."
The company has assembled recognized industry experts and thought-leaders in the area of online customer service into its Advisory Council, which includes Doug Lebda, Chairman and CEO of Tree.com and Dr. Valarie Zeithaml, Distinguished Professor of Services Marketing at UNC Chapel Hill (http://stellaservice.com/index.php/about-us/our-team/advisory-council). The Advisory Council assisted in developing the world’s most comprehensive and dependable methodology for evaluating online customer service performance.
The STELLAService methodology is a mix of over 300 unique quantitative and qualitative dimensions, with elements appropriately weighted by vertical (i.e. apparel, electronics, etc) to give more significance to the aspects of customer service that matter most. The methodology’s weightings incorporate extensive consumer surveys and academic research through which the company has been able to determine the specific criteria that most significantly impact customer service performance for e-commerce companies. For example, convenient access to communication channels, fast delivery, easy returns and the helpfulness of customer service representatives are key measurements, as are a company’s website in both form and content. Taking into account hundreds of related factors, STELLAService will deliver what online consumers have never had before – a clear, comprehensive understanding of each retailer’s customer service performance.
Leiser concluded, “We aim to provide online consumers with complete and reliable information, which we obtain by thoroughly and objectively testing each retailer first. Currently, there is no available resource whereby online consumers can truly understand and differentiate retailers based on the quality of service they provide their customers. Our goal is to provide this information and to become the most trusted source for measuring and benchmarking customer service performance.”
About STELLAService
STELLAService is the first and only company dedicated to publishing objective, in-depth ratings on the customer service performance of online businesses. STELLAService adheres to the highest evaluation standards; it does not inform Internet retailers of the timing of its evaluations and pays for all products purchased from - and returned to - each website it evaluates. Retailers cannot pay to be rated nor can they influence the ratings in any way. The invaluable data obtained by STELLAService is used by consumers to make more informed online purchasing decisions and by companies to obtain crucial business and industry intelligence. Formed in April 2009, the company’s Advisory Council and highly trained analysts represent today’s thought-leaders in the area of online customer service. More information can be found at: www.stellaservice.com.
For More Information, contact:
Lisa Amore, AMORE PR for STELLAService
Office: 202-506-3056; lisa@amorepr.com or PR@stellaservice.com
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