When I look at the above chart, I see so many missed and easy customer service opportunities for anyone in the e-retailing space. When you get right down to it, shopping online is merely an extension of traditional shopping in malls etc. No matter where we buy, we still expect customer service at various stages of the purchasing decision.

It’s shocking that some e-retailers still fail to acknowledge a purchase. This post-purchase follow-up is the expected by 7 out of every 10 shoppers. And they’re not saying they want lots of bells and whistles, they’re saying that “any” type of post-purchase follow-up would be appreciated.

Another big one is the importance of email! Why don’t all e-retailers understand the importance of email in terms of being front of mind and driving web site traffic. If you’re not sending emails, you have to know your competition is. And at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to who makes it easier and more inviting to browse. Once again, 7 out of 10 online shoppers say that retailers emails do prompt them to visit retail sites.

The other big take-away from this chart comes down to getting answers while shopping or during the check-out process. There are numerous ways this can be accomplished - online chat, 1-800 customer service numbers, online FAQs, and of course through personalization campaigns that recognize when someone has been on the site for a while yet they’ve not yet made a purchase. We call these length of visit campaigns. Essentially it means that if someone is hanging around your site for a while without any conversion, you serve up a banner campaign that says something like - Can’t find what you’re looking for? Try our handy search tool or speak to a customer service representative now!

It all comes down to online etiquette. Retailers don’t typically ignore people in person so why do they still ignore them online? That’s the real question.

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