Tag: Retailing

British e-commerce websites lack contact and delivery information

Posted by | Sep 21, 2007 | |

British online retailers lack comprehensive contact details and a limited choice of delivery options, according to new research by web monitoring company, NetExtract.

Of the 10,000 or so British e-commerce sites, analyzed by NetExtract, 60 percent failed to provide a contact telephone number anywhere on the website.

An address to indicate the location of the business was absent in 43 percent of websites and 39 percent didn’t provide an email address. Incredibly, almost one in three websites listed neither telephone nor email contact details. Customers are less likely to buy from a company that is secretive about it’s location and communication routes.

NetExtract’s Managing Director, Thomas Roberts, stated that consumers need reassurance before they will purchase from a website. “This analysis has highlighted that many online retailers can help further reduce the fears of potential customers by offering multiple contact channels, delivery options and adding testimonials from current customers to their site,” he said.

British online retailers also offered a poor selection of delivery options, found the research, and of all the delivery companies named on websites, Royal Mail accounted for just 17 percent. When it came to providing free delivery or postage, just 11 percent offered this service and just 15 percent offered Special Delivery or next day options.

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UK etailers failing to provide contact details – survey

Posted by | Sep 19, 2007 | |

A new study of the UK’s online retailers has revealed that many e-commerce sites are not offering customers a range of contact details, while many offer limited delivery options and no customer feedback features.

The survey, from website monitoring firm NetExtract analysed a sample of 10,000 e-commerce websites in the UK. It found that many e-commerce sites are missing very basic options.

Findings of the survey:

Contact details
Incredibly. 60% of UK online retailers provided no telephone number on their website, 43% displayed no business address, while 39% had no contact email address.

In addition, 30% of sites profiled provided no telephone number or email address.

This is surprising, given that providing contact details is a very basic thing for websites, and is absolutely essential as a way of reinforcing customer trust. I would never buy anything from such a site, and a recent UK survey suggested that 50% of online shoppers wouldn’t buy without contact details either.

Delivery options
11% of etailers provided a free postage or delivery service, while only 15% offered a next day or Special Delivery service. Of the delivery companies named on the websites Royal Mail was identified in 17% of cases.

Customer reviews
The study found that only 38% of online retailers have a testimonial or comments section on their website.

More than half of the UK’s online consumers say that reviews are important in the buying process, while similar numbers have more trust and respect for those brands which display reviews.

Our recent Social Commerce Report found that online retailers are beginning to catch on. Our report found that customer ratings/reviews are being used by 28% of online retailers, and that more than half were considering adding such a feature to their websites.

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TechRestore Partners with FedEx for Laptop & iPod Repair Dropoffs

Posted by | Sep 18, 2007 | |

TechRestore announced Tuesday a partnership with FedEx that makes the company’s chain of FedEx Kinko’s stores a dropoff location for repairs of Apple laptops, iPods, and iPhones, as well as Sony PSPs and for data recovery. Customers wishing to schedule repairs with TechRestore online or via telephone can choose a dropoff option, and doing so alerts both TechRestore and FedEx with all the relevant information.

TechRestore’s basic business model has been one day turnaround in repairs, with the company sending customers a packing kit, which is then picked up by FedEx, which overnights your broken laptop or iPod to TechRestore. The company would then fix it and overnight it back to you. The new dropoff option allows customers to take the first day out of that process, and takes care of the shipping label on the FedEx side of the process.

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Redbox buys two kiosk technology patents

Posted by | Sep 11, 2007 | |

No. 1 kiosk-based DVD rental company, Redbox says its purchase of two technology patents will protect its business model going forward.

One patent, called “Automated Merchandise Dispensing and Retrieval System,” is for a system that allows consumers to rent DVDs from any of its 4,800 kiosks and return it to another one. A second patent, called “Article Dispensing System,” is for a system that allows Redbox’s field team to restock kiosks more efficiently by inserting a pre-packed unit each week.

Redbox VP of marketing Gary Lancina said the company implemented the patents on June 26 and June 28.

Redbox is the largest kiosk-based rental operator and the fourth largest among all home video rental companies, behind Blockbuster, Netflix and Movie Gallery.

Each automated kiosk offers 500 DVDs of new releases for $1 each per night, which can be paid with a credit card or debit card. If a movie is not returned in 25 days, the credit card is charged $25 and the renter becomes the owner.

Jointly owned by McDonald’s Corp. subsidiary Coinstar, the automated change counter, Redbox has kiosks in grocery stores, McDonald’s restaurants and other retailers.

It’s nearest rival, TNR Corp., which operates MovieCube kiosks, counts about 2,000 kiosks machines in various grocery outlets. DVDPlay has more than 1,000 machines in the U.S. and Canada.

Redbox said this summer it rented 11 million movies between June 2006 and June 2007.

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FedEx Kinko's continues to expand footprint

Posted by | Sep 11, 2007 | |

In early August, FedEx Kinko’s made two major announcements. First, the company announced an aggressive expansion plan to open 300 new office and print centers in the United States throughout fiscal 2008. The company also will redesign 110 existing centers and introduce 20 new locations internationally. A few days later, FedEx Kinko’s announced plans to open five office and print centers in the McCormick Place convention center and historic Navy Pier in Chicago. So when you show up at Graph Expo in September, although the new FedEx Kinko’s sites will not have been formally launched (scheduled for later in September), they will reflect the FedEx Kinko’s brand.

WhatTheyThink spoke with Tom Leverton, Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer at FedEx Kinko’s, to learn more about the company’s expansion plans. Leverton leads FedEx Kinko’s domestic retail expansion operations and manages the company’s digital networks and centralized production facilities. His responsibilities include strategy, network operations, national retail product businesses, supply chain and real estate. He joined FedEx Kinko’s in 2001 as vice president, strategy and business development and later expanded his role to vice president, strategy and marketing. Leverton’s professional experience also includes corporate strategy, finance, business development and consulting with TXU Energy, Bain and Company and Johnson & Johnson.

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