Online Shoppers Fell Off

The second annual Holiday Online Shopping Study reported a drop in customer satisfaction and a slowdown in overall traffic among online shoppers in the final week before Christmas. The survey data, from investment banking firm Robertson Stephens and BizRate.com, says customer satisfaction levels decreased across nearly all metrics. More than 3700 respondents were surveyed.

Key points of the survey results include:

á Overall customer satisfaction declined to 8.34 (out of 10) in week six (though overall satisfaction remained significantly above last year's level of 7.98 through the final shopping week before Christmas.

á 50 percent of respondents abandoned a shopping cart due to shipping costs.

á The overall customer support rating fell for the third straight week, to a new low of 8.02 (compared to 8.10 in week five), indicating that increased levels of support requests proved challenging for many online retailers. However, 56 percent of respondents indicate that customer service was better than last year and 38 percent said that it was about the same.

á Amazon.com, eBay.com and eToys.com were the most visited sites in week six, while Landsend.com, Fingerhut.com, and Half.com ranked highest in overall consumer satisfaction.

“Our week six (December 18 – December 24) size of respondents fell considerably, perhaps signaling a slowdown in overall traffic leading into the holidays due to consumer misgivings over the fulfillment capabilities of online retailers during the final shopping week before Christmas,” said Robertson Stephens internet analyst Lauren Cooks Levitan. “As a result, we believe most online retailers were unable to take advantage of the flurry of last-minute offline shopping traffic during an otherwise lukewarm retail environment.

“Not surprisingly, in week six, customer satisfaction levels fell in eight of the ten categories surveyed as respondents noted slightly increased frustration with almost every aspect of online shopping,” said Levitan. “In particular, the mass-market retailers who have clearly been successful in driving traffic to their online stores have not been as successful in delivering enjoyable customer experiences. Traditional retailers, including Wal-Mart, Target and JCPenney, have received below average ratings across every category.”