Consumers More Satisfied With Retail Web Sites (But There's Still A Long Way To Go)

Retailers are upping their online efforts in a bid to improve customer satisfaction, with quantifiable successes being reported.

Both customers in the UK and the US state they are more satisfied with retail sites last year than in 2008; approval has risen by 6.5% in the UK to 71 points, while in the US it has improved to 79 points (based on ForeSee reports). However, this 8 point margin shows that UK retailers should be doing more to improve their sites’ usability and accessibility.

There is also a marked difference in the performance of pure play online retailers vs. store based competitors. On average, those who only sold products & services online scored an extra 4 satisfaction points. The likeliest reason for this is that with resources divided across fewer channels, they have been able to invest more time and money into perfecting their online strategies. Although many store-based retailers offer customers the chance to return faulty products to local branches, the option to reserve and collect products in store is not so widely available.

However, according to eMarketer, this is to change: 50% of multi-channel retailers state this as one of their principle aims for 2010 in order to increase efficiency and improve sales, and expect to have it in place by the end of the year.

Smaller independent retailers with multiple stores who wish to introduce greater online / offline and inter-store integration for the benefit of their customers should read about Docnet’s electronic point of sale (EPOS) system.

We’ve just posted a new page outlining the benefits & features of EPOS, so if you count yourself amongst the forward thinking 50% of retailers this year, and want to increase sales and reduce costs, visit it today and contact us with any questions you may have.