E-tailers failing to get serious about customer service

Online consumers are suffering at the hands of Internet-based retailers due to a lack of customer service, according to the latest report from Jupiter Communications.

The Internet research house surveyed 98 leading pan-European sites, and found that 65 per cent of companies did not respond to email queries within 48 hours.

Nick Jones, ecommerce analyst at Jupiter, said although companies have woken up to ecommerce, they have launched sites without thinking about the ongoing maintenance that is needed. He said: "It's more than just taking money, it's an ongoing transaction.

"Companies must not be afraid to interact with consumers," he added. "Once security issues are overcome, customer service is very important and can help influence what the customer buys."

Alan Stevens, editor of Which? Online was not surprised by the findings. "Companies are not responsive to emails. They have not thought the business model through," he said. "With companies being so over-whelmed with business, they can't keep up."

Stevens pointed out that this poor performance could have severe effects later down the line. "If a customer has one bad experience, they will never come back again," said Stevens.

Jupiter predicts that 10 per cent of the European population will be shopping online by 2003 generating sales of over E18bn. To capture part of this booming market, Jupiter advises companies to focus strongly on building brand loyalty.

Jupiter's findings follow a report earlier in the week by research company, Verdict, which stated that Net traders in the UK are very poor. They performed simple tests on some of the best-known online retailers in the UK, including the likes of Waterstone's and Toys R Us who failed to reply to a simple query sent three times by email. Some companies just sent automatic replies.