Consumers continue to give their highest satisfaction scores to Amazon.com Inc., according to the most recent study from ForeSee. The e-retailer scored 89 points on a 100-point scale that tracks overall satisfaction with web site experiences, as measured by the research firm. Amazon also had the highest score last year, at 86.
ForeSee measured satisfaction scores for the top 100 e-retailers listed in the 2012 edition of Internet Retailer’s Top 500 Guide for the latest release of its annual Top 100 E-Retail Satisfaction Index. With a “superior” score of 89, Amazon.com continues to set the standard for satisfaction for all e-retailers, says Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee.
But other merchants are coming on strong. 36 of the 100 merchants measured in the index scored a score of 80 or greater, the highest number to do so since the index started in 2005, and up from 28 a year ago.
Apple Inc., No. 3 in the Top 500 Guide, scored 85 points, up 5 points from a year ago, to tie with QVC.com for second place in this year’s index. Following Apple and QVC are Keurig.com (84 points, up from 81 in 2011), Avon.com (83 points, down from 84 in 2011) and L.L. Bean (83 points, up from 81 in 2011). Tied for seventh place with a score of 82 are 1-800-Contacts.com (up from 79 points in 2011), BarnesandNoble.com (up from 80 points in 2011), Newegg.com (down from 83 in 2011) and OrientalTrading.com (up from 80 points in 2011). QVC.com is part of Liberty Interactive Corp., No. 7 in the Top 500 Guide. Keurig.com is part of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., No. 83. Avon is No. 37, L.L. Bean is No. 18, 1-800-Contacts is No. 75, BarnesandNoble.com is No. 32, Newegg is No. 13 and OrientalTrading.com is No. 77.
In previous years, Netflix Inc., No. 9 in the Top 500 Guide, has competed with Amazon for the top spot in the satisfaction rankings. The movie rental merchant this year saw its satisfaction score slide four points to 81, most likely a result of price increases and plan changes that infuriated users. Satisfaction scores for Netflix had plunged as low as 74 in the aftermath of the price and service changes Netflix announced last summer. “The two companies used to vie for number one,” Freed says. “Now Netflix is floundering just as Amazon is making deeper moves into streaming video and even original programming. Netflix regained some lost ground, but it’s no longer a contender.”
Merchants with the lowest scores and their corresponding Top 500 rank are:
• AutoPartsWarehouse.com, 74 (76, as U.S. Auto Parts Network)
• Nutrisystem.com, 74 (93)
• PCConnection.com, 74 (39)
• PCMall.com, 74 (57)
• Safeway.com, 74 (106)
• Abercrombie.com, 73 (45)
• Build.com, 73 (81)
• Gilt.com, 71 (49)
• Peapod.com, 70 (52)
• Ancestry.com, 69 (60)
• eFollett.com, 69 (67, as Follett Higher Education Group)