Customer Satisfaction With E-commerce Drops In UK

Shoppers across the UK are increasing their spending on purchases via the Internet, although satisfaction among online consumers proves to be disappointing, with levels falling compared with last year, new research shows.

The survey, conducted by e-commerce and m-commerce platform provider EpiServer in partnership with researcher OnePoll, gauged the attitudes towards e-commerce of 1,000 consumers and then looked at the performance of 25 major online retailers to assess how they match customers’ expectations. The results point to an average satisfaction score of 58%, against 63% in 2011. Some 36% of the respondents claimed they bought more products online compared to a year ago, with over half of the total saying they turn to several preferred websites to make purchases. Another 40% of the panel say they choose the websites that can provide the best deal.

The most crucial feature of an e-commerce website is navigation, according to 92% of those surveyed. Second comes the availability of good product search tools, which garnered 89% of the responses. In terms of payment, the majority of consumers said that transparent and clear-cut shipping terms were an important factor, the report revealed.

Amazon emerged as the most credible e-commerce platform among consumers, receiving a rating of 73%. The online retail giant was followed by British department store chains Marks & Spencer and House of Fraser with scores of 70% and 66%, respectively. Fashion retailer ASOS and catalogue e-commerce website Argos rounded off the top five picks of consumers.