Get your clicks shopping online

20 March 2008

Shopping websites that offer a more expert service keep customers the happiest, says a new customer satisfaction survey from which.co.uk out today*.

Specialist site Abebooks.co.uk, which searches and buys books from independent sellers, and Play.com came out top in the entertainment category. Both scored 89 per cent for overall satisfaction and were praised for how easy it is to find products on their sites. Amazon.co.uk came a close third and was the most popular site – four out of five shoppers used it.

In the clothes category, lingerie specialist Figleaves.com scored the highest. Price was not the priority for clothes shoppers, however - it was the range, user-friendliness and ordering and delivery procedures that were the selling points.

Johnlewis.com was the favourite website for electricals. Customers found the site easy to use and were also impressed with its simple ordering and returns processes. PC World’s website and Pixmania were the worst performers in the category**.

Jess Ross, Editor, which.co.uk, says:

“It was really interesting to see that it was the specialist shopping websites, like Abebooks.com, Play.com and Figleaves.com, that came out top in our survey – it appears that you can’t put a price on customer service.

“With a third of UK adults going online to shop it’s going to get more and more important for retailers to put their efforts into creating a great online service that’s easy to use, value for money and quick to deliver. Let’s hope that all the shopping websites can rise to the challenge!”

For shoppers who are planning to go online, keep the which.co.uk checklist to hand:

• If you’re buying online you have extra protection – a seven day cooling-off period if you want to cancel an order***.
• If you change your mind about an item be aware that they can’t be all returned, for example CDs or software if the seal has been broken, and perishable or personalised goods
• Keep an eye out on the small print. A website should say who pays for postage if you’re returning goods – if it doesn’t, the seller pays.
• Pay by plastic! If you’re spending between £100 and £30,000 you’re protected by the Consumer Credit Act, which means you can claim from either the trader or your credit card provider if anything goes wrong.
• Before you enter any payment details check how the webpage address starts – if it’s https, not http, the webpage is secure and your details are protected.

Full results for each category are available at www.which.co.uk/onlineretailers

*In September and October 2007 Which.co.uk spoke to 5,710 online panel members about the websites that they used for online shopping. They were asked to rate how satisfied they were with the shopping websites and how likely they would be to recommend them.

** PCWorld.com scored 59 per cent and Pixmania.co.uk scored 56 per cent for overall satisfaction.

*** The seven day cooling off period describes seven working days and it starts from the day after customers receive their order.

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