News

Online shoppers more satisfied with price this holiday season

December 6, 2010

ForeSee Results' weekly benchmark of shopper satisfaction with online retailers during the holidays suggests that holiday shoppers are more satisfied with online prices this year than they were at the same time last year.

Customers' ratings of prices this year (72.1 on the study's 100-point scale) are more than half a point higher than they were in 2009; though still slightly lower than on Cyber Monday, due to fewer online incentives and specials. Satisfaction with price still remains far below pre-recession levels, which was as high as 75.1 the week of Thanksgiving, 2007.

The weekly benchmark from ForeSee Results also tracks how customer satisfaction changes from week to week during the holiday season. Customer satisfaction with online retailers during the first week after Thanksgiving was 73.3 on the study's 100-point scale, slightly higher than it was on Cyber Monday and slightly higher than it was in 2009.

"Analysis of these numbers has to be taken into context." said Kevin Ertell, vice president of retail strategy at ForeSee Results. "Last year, a score of 73.1 was real cause for concern because it was such a drop from the previous year's score of 75.6. But the struggling economy has changed our definition of success, and the fact that we see scores that are slightly higher than last year is a very good sign."

As it does nearly every year, online customer satisfaction did take a small dip on Thanksgiving weekend, and is still rebounding.

"In successful retail years, we see online customer satisfaction scores drop over Thanksgiving and then rebound by mid-December," said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results. "It remains to be seen whether that will happen this year, but I have a lot of reasons to be hopeful."

ForeSee Results uses the proprietary methodology of the ACSI, which has a proven link to future spending and revenues. In fact, a one-point increase in satisfaction for a top retailer in 2008 predicted an average revenue growth of 9 percent in 2009.

Today's benchmark is the aggregate of 136 scores for individual retail websites, which ranged from 49 to 89 (the lowest-scoring retailer in the benchmark experienced a 7-point jump in satisfaction from week-to-week, from 42 to 49).

A score of 80 is generally considered the threshold for excellence. Roughly one-third of the retail websites in the ForeSee Results benchmark, qualify as "excellent" by this measure. Retail websites measured in the benchmark include: Ace Hardware, Bass Pro, Belk, Cabela's, Chef's Catalog, Chico's, DSW, Eddie Bauer, eBags, Gamefly, Godiva, Harry & David, Helzberg Diamonds, Home Depot, LEGO, Musician's Friend, Panasonic, Samsung, ShopNFL, Sears, Sephora, Sony Style, and others.