For the second year in a row, online customer service satisfaction researchers, ForeSee Results, conducted a Top 30 UK Online Retail Satisfaction Index during the Christmas period.

While ForeSee’s results looked at only the 30 biggest players in the UK, the results offer some pointers for smaller e-retailers, or those planning to launch an online retail website.

ForeSee’s study asked 7000 visitors to the 30 UK e-retail sites, between November 28, and December 15, 2008, for their satisfaction responses. Of the respondents, 87% were from England, 9% were from Scotland and 4% were from Wales.

Online shoppers were asked to consider four specific points:

* Merchandise: Availability, variety, and appeal of products

* Functionality: The variety, availability, and usefulness of features on the website

* Content: The accuracy, quality, and freshness of content

* Price: Product price appropriateness and competitiveness.

Overall, the findings show a slight increase in satisfaction from Christmas 2007 to Christmas 2008: from 66 to 67 on the study’s 100-point scale. More e-retailers saw satisfaction increases than decreases, and some saw huge gains. But one-third of the top 30 online retailers saw their scores drop. Scores for the 30 online retailers span an 18-point range from a high of 78 to a low of 60.

In first place

In top, tied position in 2008 were Amazon UK (up three points form 2007) and Play.com (up two points from 2007) both with a score of 78.

Next up

Runners up in order of highest satisfaction were: eBay UK (72), Apple iTunes UK (entering the chart at 71), Screwfix Direct (up two points to 71), QVC UK (70), Ebuyer (70), ASOS and Argos (both up three points to 70).

Last year’s news

Falling out of the top performers category this year are HMV (69) and Marks & Spencer (down two points to 68).

Weakest link

While B&Q (60) tied for the last spot, the company had improved a superb seven points over last year. PC World (60) is up one point. Meanwhile, The Orange Shop (60) fell one point and Currys (60) remained the same year-on-year.

Lessons to learn

It’s commonsense that a positive online shopping experience is likely to lead to increased shopping loyalty and improved word of mouth marketing.

In order to increase overall satisfaction, e-retailers need to understand how changing certain elements of their websites will (or won’t) impact satisfaction.

WebCreation UK offer a full range of ecommerce solutions which would allow to you run your business 100% online. Why not take a look at our ecommerce options today and decide which may be right for you.

Happy shopping!