Retail gets top marks for treating online customers well
Retail was the leading industry in how well it treated online customers during the fourth quarter, scoring 6.1 out of 10 points on the Customer Respect Index published by The Customer Respect Group. Retailers’ strong showing was influenced by enhanced self-service facilities and greater emphasis on providing effective real-time answers to customer queries, removing barriers to the completion of online purchases.
“The retail industry sets the standard for innovation and trends online and is often followed by other industries in the following 12 months,” says Terry Golesworthy, president of The Customer Respect Group. “We can see from this study a major integration between the self-service web and back-office personnel working hard to keep online customers on track.”
The leading sites in each retail sector included Ralph Lauren (7.2 points), accessories and apparel; Overstock.com (7.4 points), general merchandisers; Lowe’s (7.2), home and home office; CVS Corp. (6.5), food and drugstores; and Newegg.com (6.3), electronic goods. Scores above 7 points are considered an “Excellent” rating.
The retail industry was rated best in customer communication, scoring 7.0 in responsiveness, compared to 6.5 for the next highest-rated industries: financial services and telecommunications. 22% of retail sites now provide online chat, compared to the all-industry average of 12%.
Retailers also scored high in responding to e-mail inquiries, responding to 65% within a day. That compares to 57% among all industries studied during the year. 83% of inquiries received a helpful reply, compared to 60% for all sites.
Retail sites also made items easy to find, with 96% offering FAQ sections, compared to 61% among all industries. 65% of FAQ sections had a link on the home page and over 82% contained a search facility and/or anchor links. 96% of the retail sites had a site search facility, compared with 73% among all sites.
The Customer Respect Group also found overall improvement in the clarity and transparency of retailers’ privacy policies. Five companies—Overstock.com, Ralph Lauren, Kmart, Gap and Banana Republic—achieved an excellent rating.
The Customer Respect Group is an international research and consulting firm that provides benchmarks to help organizations improve their treatment of online customers.
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