Online store beats brick and mortar

Online shoppers are more satisfied with customer service than their counterparts at brick and mortar stores, a US survey showed.

Just 16 percent of traditional shoppers were "extremely satisfied" with their most recent customer-service experience, versus 44 percent for online shoppers, according to the survey of 1280 consumers by the US National Retail Federation and American Express.

Taking it down a notch, 45 percent of online shoppers said they were "very satisfied" with customer service, compared with 51 percent of traditional shoppers, the survey showed.

"Many retailers are putting renewed emphasis on customer service, but shoppers are telling them that even more needs to be done," John Theiss, vice president of retail industries at American Expess, said in a statement.

Because of channel differences, online and traditional shoppers have different views of what makes up good customer service.

For traditional shoppers, the most important factors were courteous employees who treated shoppers like valued customers and were available to help.

For online shoppers, the key factors were a safe and secure website, on-time merchandise delivery and speedy handling of questions and requests.

The two groups, however, did have some similar concerns. About three-quarters of each group said it was "extremely important" that retailers do not share personal information with other companies. Return policies were also important, with 59 percent traditional and 70 percent of online shoppers saying they wanted returns accepted without problems.

The survey also revealed the value of good customer service, with 99 percent of the respondents saying that it was at least somewhat important when deciding to make a purchase.