Forrester Research Revises Powerrankings' Books, Music, & Video Category

Business Wire, Oct 29, 1999

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 29, 1999--

After reviewing the results of the first ever Forrester PowerRankings(TM), Forrester Research, Inc. (Nasdaq: FORR) today announced revised rankings in the Books, Music, & Video category. Buoyed by corrected scores for customer service and delivery, Borders.com rose from eighth to fifth in the category. Forrester's PowerRankings combine survey data from online consumers, rigorous shopping experience tests, and unbiased expert analysis to provide objective rankings of the leading eCommerce sites.

"Due to an email error made by one of the Forrester shoppers, Borders.com received inaccurate scores on two criteria -- responsiveness to customer service inquiries and failing to send an order confirmation message," stated David E. Weisman, group director for research at Forrester. "When we discovered the error, the scores for Borders.com were revised to reflect its response on both counts. The result was a substantial gain for Borders.com in a very competitive category."

A timely order confirmation message improved Borders.com's score for delivery and helped its transacting score as well. However, a detailed response to the Forrester shopper's customer service questions took two to three days to reach the shopper. This kept Borders.com's customer service score in the middle of the pack. The overall score for Borders.com improved enough to move it slightly ahead of rival barnesandnoble.com, although both booksellers trail category winner Amazon.com by a wide margin.

Forrester PowerRankings use consumer survey data and rigorous shopping tests to evaluate the leading eCommerce sites. To find out where online consumers are shopping and what their experiences have been, Forrester asks members of Greenfield Online's 400,000-person online panel to evaluate the sites where they have most recently shopped. These experiences are tested by a team of Forrester shoppers who anonymously shop the sites identified in the survey, objectively scoring them along six dimensions that mirror the criteria in the consumer survey. The consumer survey data and Forrester shopper scores are then combined and weighted to produce a score that emphasizes the features consumers deem most important.

Forrester PowerRankings are currently available for online brokerages and seven major retail categories: Apparel; Books, Music, & Video; Computing; General Merchandise; Health; Flowers; and Toys & Games. Forrester plans to add more categories to PowerRankings in the weeks ahead. Additional information about each of the categories, including a complete set of rankings and scores, can be found at the PowerRankings Web site -- http://powerrankings.forrester.com.

Forrester Research is a leading independent research firm that analyzes technology change and its impact on business, consumers, and society. Forrester's "whole view" of the Internet economy enables clients to weave together Internet commerce initiatives with corporate systems to satisfy the customer's changing needs. Clients receive continuous research and analysis through Forrester's unique eResearch(TM) reports, an array of advisory services, and topical events. Established in 1983, Forrester is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. Forrester's European Research Center is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Additional information about Forrester Research can be found at www.forrester.com.

Forrester PowerRankings and eResearch are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc.