Most big e-retailers get low marks on user experience, E-tailing Group says
If the merchants analyzed for The E-tailing Group’s recent customer satisfaction index were in high school, the vast majority wouldn’t make the honor roll. The consultancy reports just eight of the 100 e-retailers in a fourth quarter survey scored an 80 or above on a scale of 100. The average score was 68.44, up marginally from 67.9 in 2007.
The E-tailing Group mystery shops 100 retail web sites and scores merchants on 80 metrics split into three categories: execution of key pages (25 points), merchandising (43 points) and customer service tactics (32 points).
"This customer experience index is a tri-fecta that requires sophisticated key pages, meticulous merchandising, and comprehensive customer service to round out the shopping experience," says Lauren Freedman, president of The E-tailing Group. "From the entrenched mass merchant Sears to e-commerce leader Amazon the results recognize the challenge of delivering a customer-centric shopping experience."
Key page execution evaluates important pages such as the home page and product pages and scores them based on such factors as navigation, appeal, branding, ease of use and customer service presence. Merchandising looks at such features as a merchant’s search functionality, promotions and marketing strategies, and content, such as how-two guides or community features. Customer service reviews the availability of customer service, the number of ways consumers can get help, and the quality of the help.
“We had a lot of merchants in the 70s,” says Freedman. “It’s hard to excel across all three categories.”
The eight retailers scoring an 80 or above along with their scores this year compared to last and the percent increase are as follows:
- Sears, 88.25, 67.90, 21.48%
- Golfsmith, 82.25, 75.50, 8.94%
- Frontgate, 80.75, 70.00, 15.36%
- L.L. Bean, 80.50, 76.00, 5.92%
- Discovery Channel, 80.50, 76.00, 5.92%
- Amazon, 80.50, 73.00, 10.27%
- Best Buy, 80.50, 68.50, 17.52%
- Orvis, 80.00, 75.50, 5.96%
Merchants analyzed also were ranked by category. Mass merchants ranked No. 1 with a score of 78—holding on to the top seat from 2007. Drugstores ranked the lowest at 59.56. Toys and Games merchants made the biggest leap in improvement from a 61 in 2007 to a 68.50 in 2008. Department store scores fell the most. They came in at 69.05 compared with 74.60 in 2007—a 7.44% drop.
Merchant scores, organized by category with number of retailers in each category and score for 2008, compared to the same data for 2007 are as follows:
- Mass merchants, 7, 78.00, 8, 75.13
- Technology, 8, 75.91, 8, 74.39
- Office Supplies, 2, 72.38, 2, 73.75
- Books/Music/Media, 5, 71.75, 4, 71.38
- Sporting Goods, 8, 70/66, 7, 70.79
- Pets, 2, 70.50, 2, 64.50
- Department Stores, 5, 69.05, 5, 74.60
- Home/Garden, 14, 68.73, 14, 69.90
- Toys/Games, 5, 68.50, 5, 61.00
- Apparel, 16, 67.94, 17, 62.67
- Health & Beauty, 5, 64.75, 5, 63.80
- Accessories/Shoes, 9, 64.22, 11, 66.22
- Gifting, 10, 60.43, 9, 65.06
- Drugstores, 4, 59.56, 3, 60.50
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