For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Technographics® Survey Highlights: North American Technographics Affluent Online Survey, Q2 2009 (US)  (588 KB PPT)

by Corina Matiesanu, July 10, 2009

This highlight deck summarizes the key findings from Forrester’s North American Technographics Affluent Online Survey, Q2 2009 (US). This survey covered questions given to US adults with investable assets of $1 million or greater.

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Technographics® Insight: How Do US Consumers View The Role Of Government Regulation With Their Investment Firm?  (582 KB PPT)

by Gina Zavradinos, Andrew Peach, June 15, 2009

This Technographics Insight takes a look at how US online consumers view the role of government regulation in the relationship with their investment firm.

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Case Study: E*TRADE Leverages Mobile To Offer Customers More Convenient Services

A Mobile POST Case Study

by Julie A. Ask, May 27, 2009

E*TRADE's Mobile Pro application for the BlackBerry is the excellent result of a thoughtful and well-executed mobile strategy. The strong representation of SuperConnecteds and Connectors within the Mobile Technograhics Profile of its customer base opened . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Customer Advocacy 2009: How Customers Rate US Banks, Investment Firms, And Insurers

by Bill Doyle, May 26, 2009

US consumers rate their financial services firms lower than ever in our most recent customer advocacy survey. Investment firms as a group rank lowest as former high-fliers Edward Jones and Vanguard slip and full-service firms like Morgan Stanley skid . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Best Practices: Customer Onboarding

A Visible Target During Economic Uncertainty

by Craig Le Clair, April 27, 2009

Take customer onboarding . . . please. Customer onboarding lags behind other business processes in both the quality of customer experience and costs. The poor state of customer onboarding results in customers abandoning the application process, loss of . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How German Savings And Investment Buyers Use Different Channels

by Vanessa Niemeyer, Ph.D., November 18, 2008

The economic climate in Germany has encouraged consumers to save more and shift toward more conservative savings and investment products. Germans show distinct channel behavior when researching and buying different savings and investment products. While . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

US Trends In Researching And Applying For Financial Products Online: Benchmark 2008

Online Applicants Were Up Marginally In 2007 Versus 2006

by Brad Strothkamp, September 10, 2008

Forrester surveyed more than 47,000 US consumers to determine the Web's sales impact in 2007. Researching and applying for financial products online are increasing, as is the importance of online sales among eBusiness groups. Credit cards and brokerage . . .

For Application Development & Program Management Professionals

Complex Event Processing In A Quant World

A Case Study Illustrating The Practicalities Of Introducing CEP

by Charles Brett, August 25, 2008

Robert Almgren is a co-founder of Quantitative Brokers, a company that is extending the reach of complex event processing (CEP) from its conventional uses in the equity sector into non-equity trading. Before founding this startup, Dr. Almgren was head . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Customer Advocacy 2008: How US Consumers Rate Their Banks, Brokerages, And Insurers

by Bill Doyle, June 23, 2008

Consumers who rate their financial services providers high on customer advocacy are more likely to consider those firms for additional financial products. USAA customers give their firm the highest rating, as they have for each of the past four years. . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

ING Direct Infiltrates The Brokerage Market With ShareBuilder

by Bill Doyle, April 14, 2008

ING Direct brought disruptive innovation to banking — and succeeded wildly. With its acquisition of ShareBuilder at the end of last year, ING Direct added a complementary investment business to its offerings. The deal got little attention. But Forrester . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Technographics® Survey Highlights: North American Customer Experience Online Survey, Q3 2007  (287 KB PPT)

by Jacqueline Anderson, February 14, 2008

This highlight deck reviews the key findings from the North American Customer Experience Online Survey, Q3 2007. This survey covered questions given to US adults around interactions with various brands.

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Customer Advocacy 2007: How Customers Rate Banks, Brokerages, Insurers, and Credit Card Issuers

by Bill Doyle, June 25, 2007

Customer advocacy drives real loyalty — a willingness to buy and borrow more from, and save and invest more with, a firm that a consumer already uses. When consumers rate their financial institutions on customer advocacy, insurers rank highest, led by . . .

Ten Ways To Build A Better Financial Services Sales Site

by Brad Strothkamp, November 7, 2006

Financial services Web sites fail to meet customer expectations when compared with the branch and phone channels. Why do sites fail? Most financial firms do not understand their customers' needs, their expectations, or the basics of online selling. To . . .

Full-Service Brokerages: Stop Neglecting The Net

Outdated Web Sites Make You Increasingly Vulnerable To Direct Firms

by Bill Doyle, September 13, 2006

Full-service firms like Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are betting that their high-net-worth clients don't mind anemic Web sites. But it's a bad bet: Affluent investors are more active online than ever before, and they recognize the quality gap between . . .

What Stops Investors Accessing Their Accounts Online?

by Benjamin Ensor, August 28, 2006

Although half of European investors use the Net regularly, only a quarter access their investment accounts online — and most of those only look at savings accounts. Most of the others are happy looking at their investments on paper or like speaking to . . .

Financial Consumers Adopt Social Computing

Bank And Brokerage Customers Who Use RSS, Blogs, And Social Networking Sites

by Bruce D. Temkin, July 7, 2006

Shifts in online behavior are creating new phenomena that Forrester calls Social Computing. We examined how many customers within bank and brokerage customer bases perform various Social Computing activities. A few of our findings: ING Direct and HSBC . . .

Customer Advocacy 2006: How Consumers Rate Their Banks, Brokerages, And Insurers

by Bill Doyle, May 22, 2006

Customer advocacy remains the best predictor of future purchase intent among financial services consumers. USAA and credit unions continue to lead all major firms in customer advocacy. GEICO and Safeco raised their scores this year to join other property . . .

Online Stockbroking In The Netherlands Commoditizes

by Tim van Tongeren, May 4, 2006

On Tuesday of this week, Fortis Bank in the Netherlands dropped its online trading fees — just the latest reaction to a price war that ABN AMRO kicked off two weeks ago. Forrester believes that these price cuts will lead to further commoditization of . . .

The Demise Of The One-Stop-Shop Brokerage

Merrill Deal Is The Latest Indication That Financial Supermarkets Don't Work

by Bill Doyle, February 15, 2006

Merrill Lynch's announcement that it will fold its investment management business into BlackRock, a pure-play money manager, signals a broader shift in the market: the unwinding of one-stop-shop brokerages. Why is this happening? Because consumers don't . . .

What Affluent Investors Want From Web Sites

Account Information And Equity Research Top The List Of Content And Features

by Bill Doyle, January 6, 2006

Most online affluent investors use their investment providers' Web sites at least a few times per year. In fact, these millionaires are much more likely to visit their firms' sites for financial tools and content than they are to go to third-party content . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Financial Price Comparison Sites Catch On

A Third Of The UK's Online Financial Researchers Use Price Comparison Sites

by Benjamin Ensor, January 3, 2006

Savvy financial consumers love Internet price comparison engines. In the UK, 15% of consumers used a price comparison engine to research their most recent financial purchase — up from 6% three years earlier. Financial firms will avoid price-driven commoditization . . .

Mission Improbable: Selling Checking Accounts To Brokerage Clients

by Ron Shevlin, December 23, 2005

Faced with growth challenges in their core business, brokerages are diversifying by selling banking products. It won't be an easy sell — few investors plan to consider their brokerage for deposit products, credit cards, or mortgages. To dislodge investors . . .

Who Researches And Buys Stocks Online?

by Tim van Tongeren, Benjamin Ensor, November 28, 2005

Retail stock buyers are returning to the market now that Europe's stock markets are rising again. Surprisingly few stock owners research stocks online, but those who do are young, high-income, and wealthy. About 3.5 million Net users buy stocks online, . . .

How Affluent Investors Choose Their Advisors

"Reputation" Trumps All Other Considerations

by Bill Doyle, November 9, 2005

During the past six years, millionaires have become more likely to seek advice on investment decisions. When affluent investors choose an advisor and an investment firm, one factor trumps all others: reputation. To build a strong reputation with affluent . . .

The Secret To E*TRADE's Cross-Sell Success

A Conversation With CEO Mitchell Caplan And President And COO R. Jarrett Lilien

by Bill Doyle, October 28, 2005

E*TRADE chiefs Mitchell Caplan and R. Jarrett Lilien believe that cross-sell works best when it is embedded in a tool like E*TRADE Complete's Cash Optimizer. To drive even deeper relationships with investors, E*TRADE is adding advisory capacity — pitting . . .