Top Online Customer Experience: Booksellers Take the Lead

Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS) replaced Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ: COST) at the top of Forrester Research’s online customer experience rankings in 2008, followed by Borders (NYSE: BGP) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ: AMZN).

Office Depot (NYSE: ODP) had the largest drop from 2007 and ended up in last place. Electronics retailers Best Buy (NYSE: BBY),Circuit City, (Pink Sheets: CCTYQ) and RadioShack (RSH) wound up tied for the next-to-last spot among the 25 retail sites examined.

Forrester asked nearly 4,600 consumers about their interactions with a variety of companies, gauging the usefulness, usability, and enjoyability of those experiences. Based on these consumer responses, Forrester calculated the Customer Experience Index (CxPi) for 113 firms in 12 different industries.

Customer Experience Index 2008 Snapshot: Retail examines the 25 large retailers in the CxPi.

Comments

[User 368976:]

Don't rely on Borders for customer service. Major in-store layoffs and further schedule cutbacks kick in Thursday, March 5.

Mar 03 06:12 PM

[Kris Kleind...:]

Oh, we're not publicly traded, but independently-owned bookstores participating in the "Indie-Bound" program have e-commerce websites that are locally-tailored and backed up by actual humans who talk to you and remember your name. When you spend a dollar locally, you reinvest in your community. When you spend a dollar at a remote website, you reinvest nothing in your community. Community being schools, police, streets, culture, emergency services, and the continued employment of your neighbors. Food for thought.

Mar 05 12:36 PM

[billddrummer:]

What's unfortunate is that the only way to access the list is to pay $749 for the report.

I'm not going to do that.

Mar 19 06:10 PM