Online retailers suffer most from poor customer service
According to a survey by Synchrony, a bad experience is twice as likely to discourage repeat business for an online retailer than for a traditional business.
The study found that 24% of Web shoppers swore against shopping at sites where they'd experienced the worst service. This compares with 12% of consumers permanently driven from brick-and-mortar retailers.
According to Synchrony's CEO Mark Richey, customer service was the single most important factor in distinguishing an online merchant--even over price, quality or selection.
Chris Ohlinger, CEO of Service Industry Research (SIRS), which conducted the survey said, "Retailers whose customer satisfaction rating fall below 30 on a scale of zero to 100 are considered likely to fail within a year."