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Multichannel retailers make gains online

But comprehensive research finds pureplay e-commerce still leads way in online retailing.

By Miya Knights, 19 Sep 2007 at 10:59

A seven-year long research project has found pureplay e-commerce retailers top the list of the best online shopping experiences, while multichannel players are quickly bringing up the rear.

The research, conducted using more than 10,000 mystery shopping experiences by eDigitalResearch, found CD and DVD retailer play.com, Figleaves and Amazon were consistent high performers, topping the list of best online shops.

But the likes of Tesco, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer (M&S) and Boots also figured highly as a result of their successful multichannel diversification, moving them into the more popular stakes of the online retailing space.

Four sites shared the top position for brand advocacy - Amazon, Boots, John Lewis and play.com - which, according to eDigitalResearch, shows the rise of the multichannel retailer in a market traditionally dominated by pureplay retailers, underpinned by M&S and Sainsbury's as the next most popular online.

The research also found that seemingly small improvements to site appearance and functionality are proven to produce overwhelming benefits. Pureplay e-commerce games and electronics retailer, play.com was the best overall performer and puts a heavy emphasis on site appearance. But Kays and Tesco both experienced leaps in customer approval after launching new simplistic home pages communicating complex product group messages.

It also discovered that sites that provided stock availability information up-front benefited from high ratings, as consumers became frustrated with sites that only revealed goods to be out of stock at the checkout.

Meanwhile Carphone Warehouse was praised for the functionality of its shopping basket, keeping Amazon and play.com off the top spot in this discipline for three consecutive quarters.

eDigitalResearch founding director Chris Russell said: "The principal lesson to be learnt is that just because the customer is not actually in front of you, customer service and communication remain vital. Many of our surveyed sites fell down the rankings because of poor and even non-existent telephone and email communication channels, as well as delivery and refund back-up."