Survey ranks Apple best online electronics retailer

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
In a survey of 23,400 online users conducted by ForeSee Results, based on the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Apple ranked first place among online computer and electronics retailers and fourth place overall.



A report by Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Fortune noted that in terms of customer satisfaction, Apple ranked fourth out of all the top 100 online retail sites, behind Netflix, Amazon, and Avon.



Apple was also ranked as one of the most improved, with its satisfaction score jumping 11% over last year. The brand added 8 index points to its score of 83 points out of 100. Among computer and electronics retailers, Apple edged out Newegg, last year's top site, as well as besting this year's other top online sites Tiger Direct, BestBuy, Dell, HP, and Sony, which all scored between 79 and 81 points.



Overall, online electronics retailers improved by an average of 4 index points (or 5%) over their year ago scores, reaching a collective score of 78.



ForeSee executive Larry Freed said the improvement was a reaction to the poor economy. "The state of the economy really forced e-retail to step up their game," Freed said.



"Since so much of the financial downturn was out of their control, companies turned to those things they could improve, and now they are reaping the benefits. Customer satisfaction is not a byproduct of a healthy economy. Instead, a healthy economy is a consequence of satisfied customers."



Freed said every point in improvement in his company's satisfaction index translates into an additional $89 million in sales.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    superbasssuperbass Posts: 688member
    Too bad their shipping estimates are so off the mark so frequently, and they delete complaints from their forums...



    And the iTunes store is a POS, and Apple.com's own online store is retarded.



    I guess either the standards are just low online in general couple with the fact that the products Apple makes are so great that people come away with an overall relatively positive experience when their iMacs finally do ship (compared to getting a turd of an ASUS delivered on time from CircuitCity.com...)
  • Reply 2 of 7
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Superbass View Post


    Too bad their shipping estimates are so off the mark so frequently, and they delete complaints from their forums...



    And the iTunes store is a POS, and Apple.com's own online store is retarded.



    I guess either the standards are just low online in general couple with the fact that the products Apple makes are so great that people come away with an overall relatively positive experience when their iMacs finally do ship (compared to getting a turd of an ASUS delivered on time from CircuitCity.com...)





    A bit harsh...and certainly not my experience!
  • Reply 3 of 7
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,402member
    Apple is doomed! (Trademarked)*





    *Haven't figured out how to do special characters on my iPad yet.
  • Reply 4 of 7
    christopher126christopher126 Posts: 4,366member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    Apple is doomed! (Trademarked)*





    *Haven't figured out how to do special characters on my iPad yet.




    Made me smile!



    Well, when you do, how about putting it in your 'signature' whilst commenting on the article at hand! Not a criticism, just an observation!



    (end of light teasing!)

  • Reply 5 of 7
    physguyphysguy Posts: 920member
    Quote:

    Too bad their shipping estimates are so off the mark so frequently, and they delete complaints from their forums...



    And the iTunes store is a POS, and Apple.com's own online store is retarded.



    I guess either the standards are just low online in general couple with the fact that the products Apple makes are so great that people come away with an overall relatively positive experience when their iMacs finally do ship (compared to getting a turd of an ASUS delivered on time from CircuitCity.com...)



    Or could it be that your requirements are not really reflective of the great majority of people that buy products on line? Could that be???
  • Reply 6 of 7
    superbasssuperbass Posts: 688member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by physguy View Post


    Or could it be that your requirements are not really reflective of the great majority of people that buy products on line? Could that be???



    I don't know. Ordering an iMac with a shipping date of "1-2 weeks", which stays "1-2 weeks" for about 6 weeks, and then turns into "5-7 days" until I cancel and order a different model doesn't really meet a lot of peoples' requirements.



    I'm still waiting on my MBPro with the matte screen, which I ordered April 22 with a shipping time of "5-7" days. Calls to Apple were met with "we can't say how long it will take over the phone".



    Don't get me wrong, it's worth the wait, but the way they lie on their website about ship times and delete negative comments from their forums is very lame. And I've dealt a lot with Amazon, and never had extended waits, even from marketplace sellers.



    And, really, Apple's website is ass, and iTunes is slow and seems frequently gives terrible search results. Really, try searching google for some less-than-top-40 music, and then try searching iTunes for the same music. If their's one area apple needs a competitor, it's iTunes.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    ilogicilogic Posts: 298member
    I don't understand people's gripe with the iTunes Store, I love it. Apple.com however is a peace of crap - they're QA is horrible on the site. I bet a lot of the satisfaction that the survey reports on comes from satisfaction of the actual hardware. When people buy good stuff from a website, naturally the appeal of the whole experience improves.
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