Report slams substandard Web service

Almost half of the top-ranked Web sites fail dismally to offer good customer service, according to a recent survey.

Research by New York company Jupiter Communications revealed that 42 per cent of sites took at least five days to reply to email enquires, never replied or were not at all accessible via email.

The report stressed how this lack of customer support meant that companies were ignoring the opportunity to communicate with existing and potential customers, discouraging brand loyalty and opting out of what it called user-initiated, one-to-one relationships.

The report focused on 125 sites in categories of content, consumer brands, travel, retail and financial services. Retail sites fared the best with 54 per cent responding in less than one day, while 19 per cent of travel sites tested took at least three days, or did not respond to enquiries in any way.

'This effort illustrates that many companies with Websites have been unable or are unprepared to respond to the flood of user questions that come in via email from their sites,' said Ken Allard, group director of Jupiter's site operation strategies.

'Answering thousands of questions per month is an enormous challenge for sites offering complex products and services, especially if the company did not have a traditional call centre.'

Jupiter warned that this was not a valid excuse, as companies that delayed responses to user questions lost a significant degree of credibility and user loyalty. Not responding at all could sacrifice the development of e-commerce as a whole, as it reinforces the consumer notion that the Web is an unreliable medium for purchasing.

The research found that due to the nature of the Web, customer service needed to be at a higher standard than in traditional business. Jupiter said it is essential that all requests for information are answered quickly and with accurate information, as the competition was only a few clicks away.

The company then recommended that sites use some form of 'auto-acknowledge' feature that responds immediately to all incoming requests, stating the request has been received and offering an estimate as to how long it will take to reply.

By offering customers effective and convenient support, Websites will be better placed to differentiate their business from competitors, Jupiter's research claimed.

The report's authors were optimistic, however, expecting 85 to 90 per cent of sites in areas such as travel, retail and financial services to be able to respond to questions within one business day by the middle of 1999.