Retail CEOs see shift in '07 to a focus on customer service site personalization

[mandy]

Eight CEOs of leading retail chains, catalogers and pure-play web stores foresee a shift in 2007 to a focus on customer service, site personalization and improved multi-channel integration. They also are wagering on some, but not all, of the very latest technologies...

When web sales growth slows and the channel settles a bit, he adds, the differentiator in the industry will not be which merchants have the best sites but which ones offer the best products, overall shopping experience and customer service.

Moving forward, cultivating extraordinary customer service, especially for the online channel, and using that as a marketing and customer acquisition and retention tool is a must, most of the CEOs say...

Gaining a deeper respect for their community of customers, understanding precisely how the customers want to interact on web sites, then giving customers personalized information and tools to meet their wishes is what e-retailers now must do—and indeed will be doing more of in the coming year,...

full article: http://www.internetretailer.com/article.asp?id=20049

[xppman]

Customer service, especially for the online channel and
overall shopping experience?
(ease of navigating a site)

WOW... see now we know why all these guys get paid the big bucks.
What a brilliant concept.
I of never thunk it.