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3 key areas to improve customer satisfaction online

What must retailers do to ensure customer satisfaction online in 2013? The latest report from eDigital Research and IMRG published this week delivers these key insights.

Their latest report delivers the results from quarterly surveys of over 2000 customers which asked them to score their satisfaction with several elements of their online purchase journeys. These areas included delivery, navigation, security, product range, information and pricing we well as customer service contact. The results are clear that since the index began in 2008 satisfaction has steadily increased, currently at some of the highest levels it has ever been.

Consistently product range is the highest rated area, not unusual as ecommerce retailers face no boundaries as to how many products they can display. However product information and pricing are struggling to reach satisfaction rates above 80%. This would suggest that retailers should put greater focus on developing good product content and using tools such as catwalk videos, zoom functions and customer reviews would further enhance their ecommerce operations as well as customer satisfaction.

40% of customer wanted improvements in customer service contact

Areas where customers currently demand greater improvements include customer service contact. 40% of customers wanted improvements to customer contact, with 17% feeling quicker responses to queries would help. Many retailers, particularly in the fashion industry, have begun to direct customer services through social media channels such as Twitter or Facebook. Yet this study finds that customers often report unresponsive or unreliable service from these channels, meaning retailers must learn to deal with requests quickly and efficiently to satisfy customer’s demands for information faster than ever before.

23% of customers felt that better delivery services would improve their online experience
23% of customers felt that a better delivery service would also improve their online experience. Retailers that supply furniture or DIY tools online often have the lowest ratings for delivery satisfaction simply due to the nature of their products – meaning they need to do even more to reassure customers in terms of delivery types, times as well as in their product information as stated earlier.

The report concludes with the statement that no part of customers online experience recorded scores of over 90%, so there is still room to improve their offering. As the online and mobile channels continue to grow throughout 2013, retailers cannot afford to miss the key results of reports like these, or they risk losing customers to more receptive competitors.