E-retailing continues to shine in survey of consumer satisfaction
If the years-long double-digit growth in online spending isn’t evidence enough, the latest e-retail American Customer Satisfaction Index report from ForeSee Results Inc. provides further proof that consumers like to shop online.
The report, part of the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index and released by ForeSee to coincide with the eTail conference this week, ranks consumers’ satisfaction with e-retailing at 83 out of 100, up 6 points from last year’s 77. “It’s an incredibly strong showing,” says Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results. By contrast, offline retail ranked a 74.6. The score across all industries was 72.9. “It tells a great story about the online retail industry,” Freed says.
Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com were online retail standouts in the ACSI, drawing 88 and 87 rankings.
The rankings mean that retailers will have to continue to meet customers’ high expectations about online shopping, Freed says. “Continuing to provide excellent customer satisfaction will be a challenge because expectations will continue to rise,” Freed says.
But they also mean that the future for e-retailing remains bright, he says. “All business measures are backward looking; they tell you what happened yesterday,” Freed says. “But the satisfaction index is forward looking. It’s a very good indicator of what’s going to happen. It shows that this industry should continue to grow.”
Also showing up high in the rankings was eBay.com Inc., which earned an 82. The score for all online auction sites was 75.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index was developed in 1994 as a cross-industry measure of satisfaction with the quality of goods and services in the United States. It seeks to link customer satisfaction to future consumer behavior and economic returns. It applies a mathematical model that eliminates anecdotal reports of satisfaction, customers’ self-reported levels of satisfaction and customers’ assessments of what’s important in making a buying decision. Rather, it asks a series of specific questions from which analysts derive overall satisfaction levels to determine which changes will have the biggest impact.
E-retailing ranks high, Freed says, because consumers like the convenience of online shopping and the consistent experience that a retailer can deliver via the web site.
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