Giving better satisfaction

It doesn’t surprise me that Amazon tops the UK e-retailer chart again (www.marketingweek. co.uk/christmas_retail). The company has always made a core commitment to the usability and user experience of its product.

But it also doesn’t surprise me that its satisfaction ratings have started to level. Without fundamentally re-architecting its entire experience, I suspect Amazon is close to reaching its optimal state, providing the rest of the UK e-commerce sector with the opportunity to catch up.

Companies have realised they are reaching the limits of what can be achieved through feature additions and technological improvements. So 2010 saw a huge move from technological improvements to human ones.

The irony is that some companies prosper by treating their customers poorly. Ryanair sits at the bottom of the customer satisfaction chart, but people expect poor service and see it as a feature rather than a bug.

Improving the web experience and making it easier for people to do business with you will help satisfaction rates. But if goods are delivered late, if people can’t get through to a representative, they will rate the service low. Customer experience needs to run through the entire company rather than be a short term tactic.

Andy Budd
Managing director, Clearleft