That's the uncomfortable verdict for these two Web outlets rendered this morning by the just-released "ForeSee Results Top 100 Online Retail Satisfaction Index." PCMall and PCConnection not only bring up the rear among computer and electronics sites, they bring up the rear, period.
From the ForeSee report: "Thirteen points separate category leaders Apple and Newegg from laggards PCConnection and PCMall, whose scores of 67 (out of a possible 100) put them at the bottom of the computer and electronics category and of the entire Index for the second year in a row."
Emphasis mine. And the entire index -- based on the methods behind the University of Michigan's decade-long American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) -- represents 100 sites that sell, in addition to the tech stuff, everything from books and clothing to sporting goods and home furnishings. Netflix, QVC and Amazon lead the overall pack.
Anyone can have a bad year. Two in a row at the bottom of this e-commerce barrel represents a trend.
What do the "laggards" have to say for themselves? Neither publicly traded company has responded to inquiries I sent them Tuesday afternoon. (The PCConnection site is particularly unsatisfying from a journalist's perspective in that I could find no public relations contact and was relegated to e-mailing the webmaster and sales department in the hope that someone might direct my inquiry to the appropriate someone.)
Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results, did answer my questions regarding his company's survey and virtual condemnation of PCMall and PCConnection:
Does the data reveal any reasons for the relatively poor performances of those two sites?
There are four primary elements that drive customer satisfaction for the Web sites: brand (how well the site communicates the brand attributes, is consistent with the image of the brand, etc.); site experience (navigation, organization, features, etc.); merchandise (variety, desirability, availability); and price (suitability and competitiveness).
We don't disclose the details at the element level for individual companies. However, it is reasonable to say that PCConnection and PCMall have an opportunity to improve across all of those elements.
Across the group of companies measured, typically we see brand as the highest impact element. In other words, if companies can improve customer perception of the brand element, it will have the biggest possible impact on their satisfaction and purchase behavior. Site experience is typically the second biggest impact, followed by merchandise and then price.
The good news for these two sites is that there is great upside opportunity if they improve the satisfaction of their site visitors.
What conclusions, if any, can an online shopper draw from the disparity between the best and the worst performers on this index?
The wide range in scores between the companies indicates that there are strong leaders in this category and other sites that are struggling. They will have to raise the customer satisfaction level or will continue to see significant pressure on their ability to be successful and grow.
What advice would you give these two that might help drag their ratings out of the cellar?
My advice would be to listen to your customers. There is no more important voice that you should be hearing than that of your site visitors. And to remember that satisfaction is a combination of what consumers get and what they expect. It is important to manage their expectations. It is a mistake for retailers to exaggerate marketing claims or set an expectation during the site experience that cannot be met. <!--stopindex-->
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Well, they didn't poll me,
Well, they didn't poll me, and I have nothing but good things to say about PCConnection. I've been using them at my place of business since the days when they were only a mail order company, and they've always treated me right. They are a little more expensive than, say, NewEgg, which probably accounts for some of the survey mark down, but their service and turn around time on orders has always been terrific. Delivery time doesn't seem to be measured in the survey, but to be honest, if you're trying to keep your business running, delivery tends to be more important than price.
I also wonder that a quarter of the grade appears to be based upon a site's branding. I honestly don't care how well a site brands itself. I just want it to be easy to navigate, and provide quick service.
Me neither...
Bottom line is that polls are inaccurate, nor do they really focus on the core competencies that these companies are successful for. Business to business performance is really the driving focus for both of these companies, and the brunt of the salesforce picks up where inadequate search engines and the absolute lowest price are not accurate indicators. Lastly, New Egg and Tiger Direct have a skeletal salesforce that is less than helpful when it comes to returns and customer satisfaction. CDW has higher than retail prices on much of the offerings via their website, and I assure you that customers (BtoB) rarely pay that price, hence their enormous size in the marketplace. Not everything is close to what it seems. Polls are inherently flawed and influenced. You'd think the author would know that by now...
Same here.. Just fine with my Corp Account
I think this is end user type issues as I would never use Newegg as a corporate supplier.
We have nothing but good things to say about PCConenction on a Corp Supplier level.
fast shipping.. A+ tech staff.. Great Customer Service
net30 terms..
very good all in all.
I think this is based on joe user trying to order a retail card from them. In which case Newegg would be better for that type of transaction.
Mall Rocks
Where does the author come from? I represent a fortune 500 company that orders from Mall and its smaller offshoot companies Sarcom-Wareforce. These people talk to you, answer your questions, are very helpfull, and actually provide solutions. Unlike their competitors CDW, Insight, Tiger, etc. They work for the customer and actually provide a price that is low with a service that is excellent.
what about Softchoice?
Softchoice consistently beats all of these vendors on service and will usually match or beat them in pricing.
I believe they also offer a live voice whenever you call.
Huh?
It is interesting that two companies that I have recently had problems with were mentioned. Namely New Egg and PcConnection.
Here is the scoop. I live out of the US, but have my stuff sent to my billing address that is in the US. I usually provide my home phone number here in the Dominican Republic.
Evidently New Egg caught wind of that detail and canceled my account on my second order (a month or two after my first). Scratch that. They closed my ACCOUNT. No email, no phone call, no carrier pigeon, nothing. A few weeks after the product (a $60 hard drive) never showed up, I finally figured this out.
PcConnection is another story. I ordered a laptop from them. Evidently they caught wind of the same detail regarding my location and sent me an email asking me to call them. I did, but was unable to identify myself to their immediate satisfaction.
After I explained the situation, the lady volunteered to call me back after she did a bit of checking. Sure enough. In a few minutes, she called me back (mind you, she knew I was in the Dominican Republic), and told me everything was fine, and that I would be receiving confirmation and so forth.
I was totally impressed.
Maybe PcConnection does lack on branding. Maybe they need a new logo. So what? I like getting my stuff.
Do some checking....
The author said pcconnection is:
"particularly unsatisfying from a journalist's perspective in that I could find no public relations contact and was relegated to e-mailing the webmaster and sales department in the hope that someone might direct my inquiry to the appropriate someone."
Some Fine journalism skills that you could not find their corporate contacts from the homepage. A little tip, its at the bottom under contact us. OR you could use google and search for PCConnection PR and bam same page.
Second, Forsee is bias for grouping all of these companies without mentioning their strategic marketplace and you are bias for not doing your homework and reporting this misinformation. No wonder people are misinformed about where to buy from with this crap floating around.
I only recently started
I only recently started ordering from PCConnection last year. They did make a mistake on part of my order, but it was quickly rectified. They were certainly easier to deal with than other online stores--one of which actually wanted me to call them to finalize an order!
I don't have any problems navigating the site, and I didn't find the prices to be bad either. I really don't care how accessible a site is to journalists; from a customer perspective, I was able to contact them easily and received a personal response rather than a canned message.
If I were any of the businesses in this survey, I would have a tendency to disregard the results as they don't appear to be a reliable indication of customer satisfaction.
come on
this is like comparing a Lenovo T61 to a Gateway laptop.
No contact.. or no response?
No contact.. or no response? Not to defend them (haven't used PCConnection since encyclopedia-sized computer shoppers of yore), but to be fair.. 1 click and scroll down. 13 seconds. Disconcerting applies to the reporter, not the site.
Press contact:
Investor relations/press inquiries
Mailing address
PC Connection, Inc.
Investor Relations
730 Milford Road
Merrimack, NH 03054-4631
Phone
1-603-683-2167
E-mail
Investor relations
Public relations