For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals (Length: 17 pages)

August 7, 2009

Online Retail Customer Service Availability Needs Some Improvement

Retail eBusiness Customer Service And Support Benchmark, 2009

This is the third document in the "eBusiness Customer Service And Support Benchmark" series.

by Diane Clarkson, Elizabeth Stark

with Carrie Johnson, Kate van Geldern


Executive Summary (This is a document excerpt)

As part of a larger analysis of 90 Web sites, Forrester evaluated the accessibility and availability of online customer service and support among 30 leading retail Web sites. Retail sites scored the highest compared to other industries reviewed, with 14 sites receiving a passing score. Overall, retail sites delivered average customer service availability, but they made up for it with helpful social and community customer service elements. During our analysis we uncovered some good practices, such as Dell's consistent contextual help and breadth of customer service touchpoints, Wal-Mart's well-integrated customer forums, and Staples' and Overstock.com's straightforward customer service touchpoints. To improve online customer support availability, retail eBusiness and channel strategy professionals should provide reliable and consistent contextual support on product pages and promote interactive customer support methods.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

NOTES & RESOURCES

itemExamining The Availability Of Customer Service On Retail Sites

itemCustomer Service Benchmark Results For Retail Sites: Room For Improvement

itemSome Good Customer Service Availability Practices Emerged

recommendations

itemImprove Online Customer Service Availability By Strengthening The Basics

itemSupplemental Material

Forrester evaluated the customer service and support availability found on 90 public US Web sites — 30 financial services firms, 30 travel companies, and 30 retail stores.

Related Research Documents

itemCustomer Service Trumps Price

May 15, 2009

itemHow Consumers Actually Shop For Retail Products Across Channels

May 9, 2008

Find Documents In Related Categories

This document falls under the following categories. Click on a link below to find similar documents.

Analyst: Diane Clarkson
Technology: Customer Relationship Management, eBusiness/eCommerce, Packaged Applications
Industry: Business-To-Consumer eCommerce, Consumer Retail & CPG, Retail
Geography: Asia Pacific, Europe, North America