Retailers ranked by quality of e-commerce experience

Friday, October 19, 2012 - 13:00 by Mike Price

A new poll conducted by Which? asked UK consumers to consider the quality of the retail websites operated by some of the biggest shopping brands in the country, with some interesting results generated.

The retailer with the worst site was found to be PC World, since only 51 per cent of its customers said that they were satisfied with the quality of the experience they received, while carrying out safe shopping online with this company.

Fourteen thousand consumers were questioned in the study, which suggests that there are still many big companies that need to work harder, to meet the expectations of consumers.

Close to the top of the rankings were sites including Amazon, John Lewis and Richer Sounds. Amazon was particularly commended by consumers for its sale of CDs, DVDs and videogames, while John Lewis was singled out for being able to offer excellent ranges of DIY and garden items, via safe shopping online.

Study spokesperson, Richard Lloyd, said that consumers were increasingly turning to e-commerce sites to save money in this time of austerity, since 70 per cent of those questioned said that low prices were their primary motivation for shopping online.

Mr Lloyd pointed out that with this influx of custom and consumers expecting high standards from e-commerce sites, retailers cannot afford to offer a less than satisfactory online shopping experience.

This not only includes the state of the website interface, but also things like delivery policies, returns and the availability of stock for popular products.

Mr Lloyd said that the customer service amongst the largest retailers is generally quite good, although he would like to see more firms sticking to rules governing fair trade to avoid aggravating consumers and spoiling their views of the e-commerce market as a whole.