E-Commerce
Industry Soaring.-A
new study shows that online retailing, travel, brokerage and auctions
are stronger,...
E-Commerce
as a Way of Life.-Internet
usage as a part of people's everyday lives is increasingly pervasive
around the world, says a new study,...
E-Commerce
Industry Soaring.
A new study shows that online retailing, travel, brokerage and
auctions are stronger in terms of customer satisfaction, loyalty,
and future economic growth than virtually any other sector of
the economy.
And among Web retailers, Amazon.com (Quote, Company Info) and
bookseller Barnes&Noble.com (Quote, Company Info) are said
to be "leading a performance surge."
The e-commerce results are part of the American Customer Satisfaction
Index (ACSI) study by the University of Michigan and ForeSee
Results, an online customer satisfaction management firm. The
overall e-commerce score of 77.6 is a 4.7-point improvement
over last year.
The ACSI report includes scores for four categories of e-commerce:
online retail, travel, online brokerage, and auction/reverse
auction. The e-retail category, with a score of 83 on the 100-point
scale, was up significantly over last year (from 77).
Online travel services are a strong performer, with an average
score of 77 and tightly clustered competition among Travelocity,
Expedia, Orbitz, and smaller players.
The auction/reverse auction category is dominated by eBay, which
registered an 82 far ahead of its closest measured rival, Priceline.com,
which earned only a 71. Online brokerage services overall earned
a score of 73.
"Brick-and-mortar retail is doing fine, but lags way behind
the trajectory of e-retail," said Larry Freed, an expert
on online customer satisfaction and CEO of ForeSee Results.
The e-retail sector scores above 90 on perceived quality, a
score that makes it an economy-wide standard-setter, Freed said.
"In today's tough economy, e-commerce has strong potential
to be a bright spot that can play an important role in fueling
a recovery," he added.
The ACSI is released quarterly by the University of Michigan,
measuring a different set of industries each quarter such that
each industry is measured once per year.
