Amazon (is) selling everything from garden appliances and apparel to electronics and used books. But bigger isn't always better from a customer's viewpoint.
Retailers are getting better and better at managing shipments, but any screw-up, and you lose the customer forever. However, I heard a lot fewer consumer horror stories this year. I think we got a little lucky this year; there were no major weather storms that played with logistics.
The days leading up to the holiday pose a huge challenge for online retailers, who haven't yet figured out how to maintain high customer satisfaction during this critical juncture.
The downward trend is due to consumers' increased expectations during the holiday season, a much larger influx of infrequent visitors that may not know how to navigate a site and shipping costs, and the unavailability of prominent items like the Xbox 360 due to low inventory.
We're already seeing that shoppers are more likely to return to the site than they were last week and more likely to purchase offline. This is a positive sign for retailers.
Keeping shoppers happy while they are on the site is just one piece of the satisfaction equation. A bad experience with fulfillment or customer service could outweigh a positive experience on the site.
During this critical stage in the holiday shopping season, online retailers face huge challenges to maintaining high satisfaction. Those who aren't able to meet customer expectations online during the last week or two of the holiday shopping season risk the long-term impact of lessened customer loyalty during the weeks and quarters to come.
Going forward, we would expect to see satisfaction trend back upward now that the holiday rush is over.
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