UK's Best and Worst E-Tailers Named in ForeSee Results Christmas 2010 Online Retail Customer Satisfaction Index

By Foresee Results, PRNE
Tuesday, December 21, 2010

…Study shows the widening gap between the best retail websites in the UK and the rest…

LONDON, December 22, 2010 - ForeSee Results, market leaders of customer satisfaction measurement and
management, has today announced the findings of its annual Christmas customer
satisfaction Index across the UK's top 40 online retail websites during
December. After a huge year-on-year increase in online customer satisfaction
from 2008 to 2009 (from 67 to 71 on a 100-point scale), customer satisfaction
has increased only slightly in 2010 (from 71 to 72). This is significant
because highly satisfied visitors to retail websites in the UK say they are
57% more committed to the brand overall, 59% more likely to purchase online,
33% more likely to purchase offline, and 69% more likely to recommend the
retailer. There is a powerful and quantifiable impact when customers have a
good experience, with demonstrable return on investment.

By comparing scores to the overall aggregate for UK online retailers
(72), any retailer falling 72 or lower is risking loyalty, recommendations,
sales, and market share. By this measure, the research shows that 24 online
retailers (nearly two-thirds) are underperforming their UK peers. Despite
these findings, the research also indicates that the gap between the best
retail websites in the UK and the rest is huge and possibly widening. While
the year-on-year increase in satisfaction is small in the aggregate,
individual retailers have seen big gains. The best and biggest online
retailers are typically providing a much better online experience, and
smaller retailers are falling further behind.

This is the fourth year that ForeSee Results have measured customer
satisfaction with the top 40 online retailers in the UK, enabling valuable
year-on-year comparison to see which retailers have improved and which have
slipped over time. The Index measured four high level factors that affect
overall customer satisfaction: Functionality, Price, Merchandise and Content.
Over 10,000 survey responses were collected from shoppers who had visited the
top 40 online retail websites in the UK in November and December.

Key trends: Retailer Satisfaction Ratings

    - The Leaders: Amazon.com (84) was measured for the first time
      this year as a separate site, and it slightly edges out the long-
      standing top performer amongst UK online retailers, Amazon.co.uk (83).
      Perennially high-scoring Play.com increases two points to round out the
      top three companies scoring over 80 (last year, only one website scored
      over 80, generally considered the threshold for excellence whilst using
      this methodology). John Lewis increases one point to 78, and Marks and
      Spencer enters the top five for the first time in the study's four-year
      History with a five point year-on-year increase.
    - The Fallers: Only seven of the 40 websites (18%) saw scores
      decline, but all decreased only by one point except for Dell EMEA,
      which declined three points since last year to a score of 68, below the
      online retail aggregate of 72.
    - The Widening Gap: When comparing the largest online retailers (in
      terms of revenue, as ranked by IMRG) to the rest of the group, it is
      clear that the largest retailers have the highest satisfaction. In
      fact, the average satisfaction of the top 10 online retailers (in terms
      of revenue) is 77; whilst the average satisfaction for the rest is a
      71, a gap of six points. In addition, the 10 online retailers with the
      best satisfaction had an average increase of two points each, while the
      other thirty retailers averaged no change since last year. In short,
      the best are getting better, while the rest are slipping.
    - The Most Improved: Of the 40 measured UK online retailers,
      fourteen (roughly one-third) saw year-on-year increases of at least a
      point or more. The most notable increases are all companies that build
      on substantial gains last year by not resting on their laurels and
      continuing to improve the customer experience on an ongoing basis.
       - Marks and Spencer (78): up five points since last year; up eight
         points since 2008
       - Argos (77): up four points since last year; up 10 points since 2007
       - ASDA (76): up three points since last year; up 12 points since 2007
       - Next (74): up three points since last year; up seven points since
         2007
       - River Island (72): up three points since last year; up 11 points
         since 2007
       - Littlewoods (71): up five points since last year; up seven points
         since 2007
       - Curry's (69): up three points since last year; up nine points
         since 2007
    - Internet pure plays outperform multichannel retailers again: Pure
      Plays score 76, up two points on last year. Retail chains score 72 and
      Multichannel retailers score 71, up by 2 and 1 point respectively on
      Last year and trailing the Internet pure plays significantly.
    - UK Vs US: With an aggregate score of 78, American websites are
      outperforming UK websites by six points, but the gap is closing. Last
      year, the gap was eight points.
    - Satisfaction by categories: Individual retailers at the top
      of their game in various categories include Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk,
      Play.com, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer, Apple, Next, Cineworld,
      Easyjet, Expedia.com, Screwfix, HMV, and ASDA.
    - Customer satisfaction matters more than ever. Compared to
      online retailers with average satisfaction scores of 69 or lower, those
      scoring 77 or more had notably high than average scores for future
      purchase, brand commitment, and recommending the site.
    - To improve satisfaction, online retailers need to improve
      certain, specific website elements. On aggregate, retailers need to
      focus on improving Price (either actual prices or just customers'
      perceptions of prices) as well as the availability, variety, and appeal
      of Merchandise.
    - Social Media: Fewer than 4 percent of online Christmas
      shoppers report being primarily influenced by social media channels to
      visit a website. 10 percent visit websites as a result of a promotional
      email and 13 percent as a result of search engine trawls. A huge 46
      percent are primarily influenced by their familiarity with a brand.
    - Mobile Shopping and Apps: 10 percent of shoppers have
      accessed the website for the company they rated via their mobile phone.
      Those that did were primarily using their mobile or smart phone to look
      up prices, compare product specifications, or do product research. Only
      1.3 percent of all online shoppers actually made a purchase on their
      mobile phone.
    - The Multichannel Experience: Nearly half of site visitors
      (49 percent) come to a website just to research; not to buy. Roughly
      one-fifth of shoppers plan to research online and then buy in the store;
      a multichannel impact and value that is probably not captured or
      quantified by the retailer in question.

Christmas 2010 Customer Satisfaction for the Top 40 UK Online Retailers -
full list of year on year scores (in descending order)

                                    Satisfaction  Satisfaction  Satisfaction
    Company Name      Website               2007          2008          2009
    ------------      -------       ------------- ------------  ------------

    Aggregate Satisfaction for
     Top UK E-Retailers*                     66            67            71
    --------------------------              ---           ---           ---
    Amazon.com        amazon.com             NM            NM            NM
    ----------        -----------           ---           ---           ---
    Amazon UK         amazon.co.uk           75            78            83
    ---------         -------------         ---           ---           ---
    Play.com          play.com               76            78            79
    --------          ---------             ---           ---           ---
    John Lewis        johnlewis.com          69            68            77
    ----------        -------------         ---           ---           ---
    Marks and
     Spencer          marksandspencer.com    70            68            73
    ---------         -------------------   ---           ---           ---
    Argos             argos.co.uk            67            70            73
    -----             -----------           ---           ---           ---
    Asda              asda.co.uk             64            69            73
    ----              ----------            ---           ---           ---
    HMV               hmv.com                70            69            75
    ---               -------               ---           ---           ---
    Lovefilm.com      lovefilm.com           NM            NM            NM
    ------------      ------------          ---           ---           ---
    Apple             apple.com              NM            71            76
    -----             ---------             ---           ---           ---
    Cineworld
     Cinemas          cineworld.co.uk        NM            NM            NM
    ---------         ---------------       ---           ---           ---
    Screwfix.com      screwfix.com           69            71            74
    ------------      ------------          ---           ---           ---
    Next              next.co.uk             67            66            71
    ----              ----------            ---           ---           ---
    Asos              asos.com               67            70            74
    ----               --------             ---           ---           ---
    Debenhams         debenhams.com          63            61            71
    ---------         -------------         ---           ---           ---
    Tesco             tesco.com              NM            NM            NM
    -----             ---------             ---           ---           ---
    Asda Direct       direct.asda.com        NM            NM            NM
    -----------       ---------------       ---           ---           ---
    Tesco Direct      direct.tesco.com       69            65            72
    ------------      ----------------      ---           ---           ---
    Easyjet.com       easyjet.com            NM            NM            NM
    -----------        -----------          ---           ---           ---
    Expedia.co.uk     expedia.co.uk          NM            NM            NM
    -------------     -------------         ---           ---           ---
    New Look          newlook.com            NM            NM            73
    --------          -----------           ---           ---           ---
    Odeon Cinemas     odeon.co.uk            NM            NM            NM
    -------------     -----------           ---           ---           ---
    River Island      riverisland.com        61            63            69
    ------------      ---------------       ---           ---           ---
    Sainsbury's       sainsbury.co.uk        NM            NM            73
    -----------       ---------------       ---           ---           ---
    Littlewoods.com   littlewoods.com        64            62            66
    ---------------   ---------------       ---           ---           ---
    Thomson           thomson.uk             NM            NM            NM
    -------           ----------            ---           ---           ---
    British
     Airways          britishairways.com     NM            NM            NM
    -------           ------------------    ---           ---           ---
    Thomas Cook       thomascook.com         NM            NM            NM
    -----------       --------------        ---           ---           ---
    Currys            currys.co.uk           60            60            66
    ------            ------------          ---           ---           ---
    Hp                hp.com                 NM            NM            NM
    ---               ------                ---           ---           ---
    Thetrainline.com  thetrainline.com       NM            NM            NM
    ----------------  ----------------      ---           ---           ---
    Topshop.com       topshop.com            NM            NM            70
    -----------       -----------           ---           ---           ---
    Comet             comet.co.uk            60            61            68
    -----             -----------           ---           ---           ---
    Dell EMEA         euro.dell.com          NM            NM            71
    ---------         -------------         ---           ---           ---
    Lastminute.com    lastminute.com         NM            NM            NM
    --------------    --------------        ---           ---           ---
    Homebase          homebase.co.uk         NM            NM            67
    --------          --------------        ---           ---           ---
    Very.co.uk        very.co.uk             NM            NM            NM
    ----------        ----------            ---           ---           ---
    B&Q               diy.com                53            60            65
    ---               -------               ---           ---           ---
    Ticketmaster
     United
     Kingdom          ticketmaster.co.uk     NM            NM            65
    ------------      ------------------    ---           ---           ---
    RyanAir           ryaNMir.com            NM            NM            NM
    -------           -----------           ---           ---           ---

                                                              Point
                                                             Change
                                                              Since
                                              Satisfaction     Last
    Company Name      Website                        2010      Year
    ------------      -------                 ------------    ------
    Aggregate Satisfaction for
     Top UK E-Retailers*                               72         1
    --------------------------                        ---       ---
    Amazon.com        amazon.com                       84         -
    ----------        ----------                      ---       ---
    Amazon UK         amazon.co.uk                     83         0
    ---------         ------------                    ---       ---
    Play.com          play.com                         81         2
    --------          --------                        ---       ---
    John Lewis        johnlewis.com                    78         1
    ----------        -------------                   ---       ---
    Marks and
     Spencer          marksandspencer.com              78         5
    ---------         -------------------             ---       ---
    Argos             argos.co.uk                      77         4
    -----             -----------                     ---       ---
    Asda              asda.co.uk                       76         3
    ----              ----------                      ---       ---
    HMV               hmv.com                          76         1
    ---               -------                         ---       ---
    Lovefilm.com      lovefilm.com                     76         -
    ------------      ------------                    ---       ---
    Apple             apple.com                        75        -1
    -----             ---------                       ---       ---
    Cineworld
     Cinemas          cineworld.co.uk                  75         -
    ---------         ---------------                 ---       ---
    Screwfix.com      screwfix.com                     75         1
    ------------      ------------                    ---       ---
    Next              next.co.uk                       74         3
    ----              ----------                      ---       ---
    Asos              asos.com                         73        -1
    ----              --------                        ---       ---
    Debenhams         debenhams.com                    73         2
    ---------         -------------                   ---       ---
    Tesco             tesco.com                        73         -
    -----             ---------                       ---       ---
    Asda Direct       direct.asda.com                  72         -
    -----------       ---------------                 ---       ---
    Tesco Direct      direct.tesco.com                 72         0
    ------------      ----------------                ---       ---
    Easyjet.com       easyjet.com                      72         -
    -----------       -----------                     ---       ---
    Expedia.co.uk     expedia.co.uk                    72         -
    -------------     -------------                   ---       ---
    New Look          newlook.com                      72        -1
    --------          -----------                     ---       ---
    Odeon Cinemas     odeon.co.uk                      72         -
    -------------     -----------                     ---       ---
    River Island      riverisland.com                  72         3
    ------------      ---------------                 ---       ---
    Sainsbury's       sainsbury.co.uk                  72        -1
    -----------       ---------------                 ---       ---
    Littlewoods.com   littlewoods.com                  71         5
    ---------------   ---------------                 ---       ---
    Thomson           thomson.uk                       71         -
    -------           ----------                      ---       ---
    British
     Airways          britishairways.com               70         -
    -------           ------------------              ---       ---
    Thomas Cook       thomascook.com                   70         -
    -----------       --------------                  ---       ---
    Currys            currys.co.uk                     69         3
    ------            ------------                    ---       ---
    Hp                hp.com                           69         -
    ---               ------                          ---       ---
    Thetrainline.com  thetrainline.com                 69         -
    ----------------  ----------------                ---       ---
    Topshop.com       topshop.com                      69        -1
    -----------       -----------                     ---       ---
    Comet             comet.co.uk                      68         0
    -----             -----------                     ---       ---
    Dell EMEA         euro.dell.com                    68        -3
    ---------         -------------                   ---       ---
    Lastminute.com    lastminute.com                   68         -
    --------------    --------------                  ---       ---
    Homebase          homebase.co.uk                   67         0
    --------          --------------                  ---       ---
    Very.co.uk        very.co.uk                       67         -
    ----------        ----------                      ---       ---
    B&Q               diy.com                          65         0
    ---               -------                         ---       ---
    Ticketmaster
     United
     Kingdom          ticketmaster.co.uk               64        -1
    ------------      ------------------              ---       ---
    RyanAir           ryaNMir.com                      61         -
    -------           -----------                     ---       ---

Larry Freed, CEO at ForeSee Results commented: "To the general public a
small point increase may seem insignificant, however for the Top 100 American
retailers a one-point change in website satisfaction was found to predict a
14 percent change in the log of revenues generated on the web! We've found
similar relationships between customer satisfaction and revenue in previous
years so for Marks & Spencer to see a five point year-on-year increase is
good news for them and could predict a huge increase in online revenue."

"The findings around how shoppers are interacting with retailers also
threw up a few surprises - that just 4 percent reported they were primarily
influenced by social media to visit the site and only 1.3 percent are making
purchases using their mobile phones - both marketing channels that retailers
appear to be heavily investing in, with apparently little return or interest
from their customers," said Kevin Ertell, Vice President of Retail Strategy
at ForeSee Results. "While social and mobile may play a significant role in
the future of online commerce, it's important to recognise they play a
relatively small role today and getting basic web experience right is still
hugely important. Retailers need to tune into and fully understand what their
customers want from them and focus their attention on converting browsers
into customers. Satisfied customers will return, recommend and stay loyal -
worth their weight in gold."

About the research

ForeSee Results Online Retail Satisfaction Index (UK Christmas Edition)
is based upon a customer satisfaction methodology developed at the University
of Michigan
that is the only cross-industry methodology proving that
organisations that more effectively satisfy customers realise higher
financial returns. With origins in Sweden where it was originally developed
as the Swedish Barometer, this methodology has been adopted as a national
measure of customer satisfaction by the United States (American Customer
Satisfaction Index), the United Kingdom (National Customer Satisfaction Index
UK) as well as by governments in Colombia, Korea, Mexico, Sweden, Turkey and
elsewhere. For the past eight years, ForeSee Results has been measuring
online customer satisfaction, and measures leading retail sites including
Best Buy, Sears and Target using this scientific approach. Additionally, the
firm produces the annual US-based Top 40 Online Retail Satisfaction Index,
which provides an interesting point of comparison to customer satisfaction
with UK online retail.

The list of retailers was based on site traffic volume data from IMRG
sources. The survey represents nearly 10,000 customer surveys.

Survey responses were collected from 23 November through 14 December from
shoppers who had visited the Top 40 retail websites within the previous two
weeks or travel websites within the last six months.

Survey responses for this study were collected via an online panel
provided by Research Now, a leading international online panel and fieldwork
organisation. Research Now owns the largest online panel in the UK, comprised
of 400,000 consumers, spanning England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.

About ForeSee Results

As the leader in customer satisfaction measurement, ForeSee Results
captures and analyses voice of customer data to help public and private
sector organisations increase loyalty, recommendations and website value.
Using the methodology of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI),
ForeSee Results identifies improvements to websites and other online
initiatives that drive customer satisfaction. With over 50 million survey
responses collected to date and benchmarks across dozens of industries,
ForeSee Results offers unparalleled expertise in customer satisfaction
measurement and management around the globe. ForeSee Results can be found
online at www.ForeSeeResults.com.

    Press Contact
    Nikki Alvey, The PR Network
    Tel: +44(0)7973-354-706
    Nikki.alvey@theprnetwork.co.uk

Nikki Alvey, The PR Network, Tel: +44(0)7973-354-706, Nikki.alvey at theprnetwork.co.uk

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