E-business Misses the Mark on Customer Service

Internal Auditor, June, 2000 by C. Brune

ONLY 36 PERCENT OF 50,000 e-shoppers report that they are satisfied with electronic customer service, and dissatisfied customers tell twice as many people about their e-experience than those who are satisfied. Findings from a recent study by the International Customer Service Association (ICSA) and e-Satisfy.com also indicate that consumer expectations exceed service standards in areas such as acknowledgment of electronic messages and response time in addressing concerns. While customers expect a reply to their e-contacts within one hour, only 12 percent receive such timely responses, and just 42 percent receive replies within 24 hours.

Douglas F. Aldrick, author of Mastering the Digital Marketplace, contends that implementing timesaving features may be critical to improving electronic customer service. "More than two-thirds of Internet shopping carts are left at the virtual checkout counter," he says. "The virtual checkout counter is where consumers are required to type in credit card numbers, shipping addresses, and phone numbers. They must also select desired shipping options and answer follow-up questions. This is very time-consuming for something that is supposed to save time." To prevent pile-ups of abandoned shopping carts, Aldrick recommends that businesses improve Web site user--friendliness by implementing "electronic wallets" to save credit card information and shipping preferences, allowing repeat customers to avoid the tedious task of rekeying information.

Despite the apparent problems with e-service, the 10th annual Retailing in e-Time study found that the percentage of businesses offering online shopping will double this year, from 18 to 36 percent. Additionally, business-to-consumer retail growth may rise even more, as two-thirds of survey respondents who are not currently online plan Web site debuts in 2000. The study, conducted by Retail Info Systems (RIS) magazine and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), reveals that 40 percent of respondents identified delivering quality fulfillment services as the most pressing motivator for offering e-shopping, while 35 percent stated that attracting customers to their organizations' Web sites was the top issue.

"To successfully adopt and use the Internet to its fullest advantage, retailers must stop looking at business strategy and technology as two separate entities," says Joe McKinney, CSC's consulting group partner. In an age when customers are more inclined to contact companies electronically--rather than by telephone or mail--these studies show that organizations failing to provide adequate e-services may risk customer loyalty.