Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) continues to rein in the online world, leaving behind its rival Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX), according to a report produced by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and analytics firm ForeSee, which gave the general e-commerce industry a ranking of 82 out of 100 in 2012, an increase of 1.2 percent from the previous year.
The founder of ASCI said e-commerce is gaining maturity with time and even the smaller online retailers are making effort to match the pace with the bigger ones and in doing so , they at time surpass their bigger counterparts. The online platform is more volatile than the traditional retail industry and any breakthrough in technology can bring massive changes, which is not that easily possible in case of conventional brick and mortar retail industry.
US consumers prefer to shop online over visiting brick and mortar stores, according to customer satisfaction rankings released. Brick and Mortar stores got 76.6 out of 100. There has been a growth for the small online retailers and those brick and mortar retailers who are available on web as well.
This category of retailers, who have more room to grow than an established online giant like Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), increased 3 percent to a score of 82.
“Brick-and-mortar retailers are not conceding the Internet to online natives such as Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN),” Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee, said in a press release. “They are investing heavy resources in providing a better experience for their customers, providing more evidence that competition is good for the consumer.”
Harris poll announced Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) as the most reputable company in the U.S. ruling the roost in terms of customer satisfaction. However, the score of Amazon dropped 1 percent from the previous year when it achieved ranking at 85 out of 100, but still the company managed to lead compared to the competitors like Newegg, eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY), Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) and Netflix.
eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) score increased from 81 percent in 2011 to 83 in 2012, Newegg decline from 85 to 84 and Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) declined from 83 to 81. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) increased by 1 percent to 75 out of 100 in the current year.
According to Freed, the performance of Netflix reflects the competitive nature of the video streaming business. “Netflix’s recovery comes amid increased competition and tough negotiations with content providers. Netflix, Inc. (NASDAQ:NFLX) knows that access to content is the key, and creating exclusive content and a franchise that will help it secure a loyal following is a unique approach. But it remains to be seen if this tactic can return the company to the top of the online retail category”, says Freed.
