Are you being served? Not online

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 28 September 2010 16:53

Business IT - Networking

While the overwhelming majority of Australia's internet users have taken the plunge and bought something online, with four out of five planning to do some of this year's Christmas shopping on the internet, online customer service still leaves a lot to be desired.

RightNow, which sells software to help organisations manage their customers' experience, today released the results of a survey of 700 Australians conducted earlier this month which found that 22 per cent of respondents felt the online service they received wasn't up to scratch. A whopping 80 per cent said they would look for online alternatives if their original online shopping experience didn't live up to expectations.

That result seems somewhat at odds with an earlier report conducted by StollzNow Research for RightNow in June, which found that even where consumers received poor customer service 28 per cent would stick with a supplier as they didn't think other companies would prove any better.

However according to Neil Stollznow, director of the research organisation, the questions asked in the two surveys were different, and online retailers were only one of seven industry sectors examined in the June research. A direct comparison between the statistics was not therefore valid.

Regarding the latest research Mr Stollznow said; 'The story for me is that online is really underutilised in terms of service. People are mostly looking for the price.

'The one thing I want to do is buy an HDTV. The best I can do is walk into JB Hi Fi and hope to get someone knowledgeable who can talk about refresh rates. But I might end up with a complete idiot,' said Mr Stollznow.

There was no real online alternative however as: 'About the best I can get online is a technical spec sheet.' He questioned why more online retailers weren't using tools such as webchat to engage with online shoppers.

'It's a medium where people have got nowhere near maximising your experience,' he said.