Study Shows Retailers Did Not Deliver a Good Online Experience for Holiday Shoppers

A study conducted by STELLAService and CompuWare found that retailers did not deliver the kind of online experiences that shoppers expected this holiday season. The study found that only six retailers delivered a mix of good customer service and good website performance. These six retailers were Amazon, Apple (News - Alert), Avon, L.L. Bean, Macy’s and Overstock.com.

The study evaluated customer expectations regarding call centers, email, live chat and website performance. According to the numbers, 75 percent of the top 25 retailers struggled to meet customer expectations. “These retailers risked not only immediate lost revenue opportunities, but also faced long-term brand satisfaction damage,” the study concluded. The study also pointed out that poor website performance meant that retailers failed to meet customers expectations on multiple channels, including through website, mobile phones, shopping apps and tablets.

STELLAService and CompuWare also issued a list of best practices regarding both customer service and website performance that retailers should adhere to in subsequent seasons. Study authors recommended focusing on availability and response, sticking with the basics and making every customer interaction count. Extended waits, complicated web interfaces, slow-loading pages and unfriendly service, according to the study, would all result in clicks on competitor websites. Additional recommendations included knowing industry standards for website performance as well as focusing on making transactions easy.

The weakest retailers in the study kept customers on hold for an average of four minutes and 41 seconds when customers called the Customer Service number. These retailers’ websites also seemed to grow more complex following Cyber Monday (News - Alert). This resulted in slower page loading and greater interface complexity. Study authors drew no conclusions as to why retailers would make this seemingly bizarre choice.

L.L. Bean and Overstock.com earned top marks among all retailers in the study. STELLAService noted that L.L. Bean boasted an average hold time of 19 seconds and ranked in the top 10 for website performance. The Maine-based retailer maintained website speed and performance by limiting third-party content.

Overstock.com maintained excellent website performance by controlling home page size as well as by limiting its number of hosts and connections. Overstock.com also came out as tops for customer support performance while posting an average hold time of 45 seconds per customer.