Listen Up All Etailers !!

[frostbitetwice]

Well etailers if you wish to increase sales read this piece. I am very surprised by the high score by TigerDirect



Seeking e-satisfaction
Consumers give Netflix.com top marks; HomeDepot.com among low scorers
By Andrea Coombes, MarketWatch
Last Update: 9:53 AM ET Jun 3, 2007

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Netflix, QVC and Amazon earned top scores for their Web sites while Home Depot, Neiman Marcus, Macy's, PCConnection and PCMall were among the lowest scorers in a survey measuring consumer satisfaction with 100 online retailers.
Netflix.com and QVC.com earned 85 on the 100-point scale, while Amazon.com scored 83, Barnes & Noble's BN.com scored 82 and Apple.com scored 79, according to the study by ForeSee Results, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company specializing in customer-satisfaction management.

At the other end of the scale, HomeDepot.com, ShopNBC.com, NeimanMarcus.com and Macys.com all scored 69, while Etronics.com scored 68, and PCConnection.com and PCMall.com scored 67.
The biannual study, which uses the methodology of the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index, surveys 20,000 consumers. The survey includes people who visited the sites but did not make a purchase. Respondents must have visited the site in the past 14 days. The sites were the top 100 retail Web sites in terms of revenue, according to Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.

If customers are satisfied, "they're going to come back, they're going to buy more, they're going to tell people about it," said Larry Freed, chief executive and president of ForeSee Results. "We see consistently that [customer] satisfaction ... drives loyalty, drives retention and therefore drives financial results."

Satisfaction is based on four broad measures, Freed said: Consumers want a site that's easy to understand and to navigate. They are seeking good prices and "appropriate" shipping costs. They want a wide variety of merchandise to be readily available (i.e. not on back-order), and they want the Web site to meet their expectations for the retailer's brand.

That last metric is a bit amorphous, but it's a key player in customer satisfaction, Freed said. "It's how well the site meets your perception of the brand," he said. "If you go to Wal-Mart and you're finding products you'd expect to see at Neiman Marcus, it's going to throw you off." That could affect a customer's sense of satisfaction with the site, he said.

"Satisfaction is a combination of what you get and what you expect," he said. Retailers find plenty of ways to misstep when it comes to meeting consumers' expectations, he said.

Pet peeves
For instance, if you go to a site and it says free shipping, and you fill up your shopping cart for $80 only to find at check-out that you have to buy $100 worth of merchandise to get free shipping, "you'll be very dissatisfied," he said.
But "if you had not been told you'll get free shipping, and at check-out it says 'if you spend $100, you'll get free shipping,' I'll be very happy to get that free shipping," he said.

Another big issue for consumers: Unavailable merchandise. How the retailer handles a lack of inventory can have a big effect on customer satisfaction, Freed said. "If you put [the item] in your cart, you hit check-out, it asks for your credit card and then it says it won't be shipped for 7 to 10 days" -- that leads to a "totally disappointed consumer," he said. An earlier notification of that "out of inventory" item might have helped.

While price is an important issue for consumers, lowering prices doesn't always lead to greater satisfaction, Freed said. "Consumers aren't necessarily extremely happy with the price, but if we improve the price it's going to have a minimal impact on improving their satisfaction and their behavior," he said.
The top two drivers of satisfaction in general, he said, are site experience in terms of navigation and ease of use, and the degree to which the site reflects the consumer's expectation for the brand.
How 100 sites stack up
Here are the scores for the 100 sites, according to ForeSee Results:
End of Story

Web site Score
Netflix.com 85
QVC.com 85
Amazon.com 83
BN.com 82
DrsFosterSmith.com 81
AmericanGirl.com 79
MarketDay.com 79
LLBean.com 79
HSN.com 79
TigerDirect.com 79
Zappos.com 79
Apple.com 79
Cabelas.com 78
MusiciansFriend.com 78
OrientalTrading.com 78
Schwans.com 78
Newegg.com 78
Avon.com 78
Dell.com 78
Blockbuster.com 77
Shutterfly.com 77
VictoriasSecret.com 77
Quixtar.com 77
BassPro.com 76
Crutchfield.com 76
VistaPrint.com 76
Drugstore.com 76
JCPenney.com 76
Overstock.com 76
shopping.hp.com 76
Target.com 76
1800Contacts.com 75
AAFES.com 75
DisneyDirect.com 75
eBags.com 75
HarryandDavid.com 75
Walgreens.com 75
Williams-Sonoma.com 75
Staples.com 75
Walmart.com 75
ColdwaterCreek.com 74
NorthernTool.com 74
Scholastic.com 74
OfficeDepot.com 74
CircuitCity.com 74
AbeBooks.com 73
CrateandBarrel.com 73
Domestications.com 73
EddieBauer.com 73
LillianVernon.com 73
Nike.com 73
Peapod.com 73
REI.com 73
Talbots.com 73
Chadwicks.com 73
Nordstrom.com 73
AE.com 72
CVS.com 72
FootLocker.com 72
JCrew.com 72
LaneBryant.com 72
Gap.com 72
Sears.com 72
Costco.com 72
dELiAs.com 71
FTD.com 71
OfficeMax.com 71
Palm.com 71
SmartBargains.com 71
Spiegel.com 71
1800Flowers.com 71
BestBuy.com 71
Buy.com 71
CompUSA.com 71
ToysRUs.com 71
Abercrombie.com 70
Bidz.com 70
BlueNile.com 70
CDW.com 70
efollett.com 70
eToys.com 70
FreshDirect.com 70
Lowes.com 70
SaksFifthAvenue.com 70
Shop.MLB.com 70
Gateway.com 70
SonyStyle.com 70
HomeDepot.com 69
ShopNBC.com 69
NeimanMarcus.com 69
Macys.com 69
Etronics.com 68
PCConnection.com 67
PCMall.com 67

[nomaxim]

I'm not surprised by TigerDirect's rating. Their rating here at present is 6.77, somewhat below average. If you read through the reviews you'll see that most of the bad one's relate to their rebates. I personally have never used them, but have many friends that have. And the opinions of them about TigerDirect are generally good. Just stay away from the rebates.

I also concur with the Netflix rating, rating at RR is 5.16. I have been using them for years with only two problems, cracked discs, that were handled very quickly by customer service. Then again I have also been using Columbia House, rating here 2.24, for years with almost the same results, one bad disc, so what do I know. In all three cases the replacement was in the mail the next day.

By total count I have used 25 of the sites listed there at one point or another without major problems. Only major problem I've ever really had was a shipper for Home Depot left an air conditioner at the wrong apt#, but that was the shipper's fault and not Home Depot's. I've delt with most problems through the internet, e-mail or live-chat, except two. One was a delivery date mix-up with OfficeMax a few years ago. The other was with MovieLink, I had installed a new router and my ISP gave me a new IP that Movielink reported was outside the US. Had to look up a phone number on that one as the service would not let me connect to live-chat (outside the US remember ) and they provide no phone number on the website. Still the problems was fixed within days. Actually Amazon's Unbox had the exact same problem with my new IP, but had it fixed before Movielink did.

I generally follow the BBB's rule about reviews/complaints anyway;

When considering complaint information, please take into account the company's size and volume of transactions, and understand that the nature of complaints and a firm's responses to them are often more important than the number of complaints.

Wow, just realized that I have only ever left eight reviews here at RR. I think I have more then that over at PriceGrabber.com.

[frostbitetwice]

I too, Master nomaxin, have had no issues so far when ordering from etailers. When I shop I always use a condom. It is necessary to use a great deal of caution. I would not use TD simply on moral grounds nor would I assist anyone who did. As for Columbia House (Pablo Escobar), I had numerous problems with them that I decided NEVER to do business with them again. By using RR one is more than likely to enjoy problem free shopping.

[bobbytool]

I am new to this site, and have seen all of the negative posting about them. My experiences have been the opposite. I should start by saying that I live less than a mile from their retail store, although that should not make any difference. I have bought dozens of things from $5 -$ 500 with almost no problems. I don't think I have ever had a problem with a rebate. The times that I have bought a defective product, they have either exchanged it or refunded my money. They even refunded ( via store credit ) when I was past thirty days. I even bought a refurbished camera which works great. Just my experience. The retail store is always packed, so they must be doing something right.

[michaels39]

How in the world did Dell get a 78?They have to be one of the worst builders out there!

[nomaxim]

Originally Posted by michaels39

How in the world did Dell get a 78?They have to be one of the worst builders out there!

Hmm, Dell did better then VictoriasSecret.com (77). What does that say about the average person involved in this poll. I think it's safe to say that they were not very good, ummm...ahh...builders, yep, that's it.

[michaels39]

Yeah,I'd say Victoria's models are better built than Dells.

[frostbitetwice]

Originally Posted by michaels39

Yeah,I'd say Victoria's models are better built than Dells.

Hi yo !!

[frostbitetwice]

Originally Posted by michaels39

How in the world did Dell get a 78?They have to be one of the worst builders out there!

It is a rating of websites and not products.

[flipper812002]

I used tiger a couple of years ago and I personally can tell you a couple horror stories. The first one was a defective keyboard i bought. Total cost for me was like 12. so was a cheap one. The website posted a years warranty thru TD. So i call customer service and told them it was defective the CSR told me it had no warranty, So i was looking at the page on my computer i knew better when i gave her the item# she said it wasnt their item and hung up on me.
I called the next day and got a hold of a different CSR explained what happened he actually told me they didnt even carry that product so i of course jumped on the computer while he was on the phone and guess what that product listing was gone but i had a snapshot of it.
I faxed it to him and never got a reply so of course i gave up trashed the keyboad and said never again.
All that over a 12. purchase.

Jeff another computer builder whom i work with ordered a server MB from them about a week later and it actually came broke in half and had clearly been used. When he called them they actually cussed him and more. ( he had the speaker phone on) To this day he still has that motherboard in a box to always remind him of the ordeal he went thru and how much money he lost compared to my little 12. dollars.

So i am suprised by the rating TD got must be alot of local shoppers that filled it out or something cause i know better. Why i moved on to Newegg which i am very glad i did and even ZZF as i have not ever had a problem with them now.