What eCustomers Want

January 24, 2014

Marketing researchers Rolph Anderson, Srinivasan Swaminathan and Rajiv Mehta identify six significant drivers of customer satisfaction in e-business based on data collected from more than 850 online shoppers.

Adaptability The one-size-fits-all approach is no longer adequate. Businesses must tailor products, services and the shopping experience to the individual.

Commitment Instead of telling the customer what your business is willing to do to solve a problem, a business that’s truly committed to customers will ask them how they would like the problem to be handled.

Connection With Other Customers Customers like to be able to share their opinions with others. Companies can support this desire by establishing comment links, buying circles, chat rooms and special events.

Product Assortment A product assortment that is too extensive can be confusing and cause customers to postpone or cancel purchases; assortments that are too narrow can lack excitement.

Easy Transactions Consumers respond positively when the purchasing process is simple, intuitive and user-friendly. Amazon.com realized this early on; that’s why it created “1-Click” ordering.

Appealing Environment Over and above specific products, customers appreciate and respond to a stimulating shopping environment that offers attractive store layouts and shopping websites.

Excerpted from “How to Drive Customer Satisfaction,” co-authored by Drexel LeBow professors Rolph Anderson, Ph.D., chaired Royal H. Gibson Sr. Professor of Marketing, Srinivasan Swaminathan, Ph.D., professor of marketing; and Rajiv Mehta, Ph.D., professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, as published in MIT Sloan Management Review.