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A new study released Friday finds that while online shopping rated favorably with the majority of holiday shoppers this season, overall satisfaction is down when compared with a similar study last year.

The study, by ForSee Results, questioned 300 online holiday shoppers in the week before Christmas about their shopping experience. The results from those interviews landed online retailers a score of 69 out of 100--a "C"--based on the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a measure of consumer satisfaction.

That score is down from last year, when a similar study by the University of Michigan Business School gave online retailers a ACSI rating of 77 out of 100.

However, responses to last year's study by the University of Michigan were collected throughout the fourth quarter of 2001, whereas ForSee questioned its respondents in the week before Christmas, capturing shoppers more focused on the holiday season, according to Larry Freed, CEO of ForSee.

Experience Rated

The ACSI was developed by the University of Michigan Business School, the American Society for Quality, and the international consulting firm, CFI Group.

The questionnaire used in the study was delivered in the form of a pop-up, 35-question survey to visitors at a major online shopping exchange, which offers access to a number of different online retailers. Freed would not name the site from which users received the survey.

Among other things, respondents were asked to rate the look and feel of the Web sites they visited, the sites' navigation elements, performance, privacy features, as well as the order process and the retailers' return policies, Freed said.

Each variable was weighted according to how much it affected consumer purchase behavior and loyalty, according to ForSee.

According to ForSee, 59 percent of respondents in the 2002 study reported being "highly satisfied" with their online shopping experience. Seventy one percent reported that they would be "very likely" to shop online for the 2003 holiday season.

However, 10 percent of those surveyed were "extremely disappointed" with their experience, with two thirds of that number unlikely to shop online during the next holiday season.

Room to Improve

"The big factor we see is that (online) consumer expectations are continuing to rise. Also, users are becoming more savvy as to what they should expect," Freed said.

Online retailers must improve the capability to browse for and order products online and must also do more to understand what affects their customers' satisfaction, Freed said.

For those companies that succeed in improving customer satisfaction, however, the numbers look good.

Forty nine percent of those surveyed said they were likely to do more than a quarter of their holiday shopping online, Freed said. In addition, more than 60 percent of those surveyed said they would be likely to shop online again within the next two months, with satisfied customers 50 percent more likely to make a purchase within that time period than unsatisfied customers.

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