Customer service and the perils of gift giving
The final nail in the coffin of the dot-com business model was a failure to recognise the importance of customer service. In an attempt to offer ever lower prices e-tailers overlooked the importance of punctual delivery, billing and customer support services. However, those who have survived have learnt their lesson.
"The focus is on customer service, getting as many orders as we can out by the Christmas deadline," says Dymocks' Carr adding that security is still an important issue.
The focus on customer service has resulted in sites that are easier to use than those in the past, according to Shiffman.
"I think a lot of really large online retailers are actually improving at a slower rate than some of the smaller retailers who seem to have a really big commitment to make the customer experience as pleasant and as enjoyable and as conducive to shopping as possible," said Shiffman.
"That's because they need to do more, they can't rely on a well known offline brand to drive sales, they have to rely on a better experience with more information and a better chance of actually closing the sale," he said.
Pallister said that "providing a fantastic service and help when [customers] need it" was the main focus of Zodee. She said when people buy the products they like to be able to get assistance when needed, so Zodee provides help by phone or e-mail. They also inform the customer when the product will be dispatched, whether there are any delays, and finally that the product has been dispatched.
This is to ease the concerns of people who are still nervous about shopping on the Internet, according to Pallister. "A lot more people are willing to shop online," she says, but "people often call to confirm an order."
"We get people phoning up to pay over the phone by credit card, because they're not sure who we are and how long we'll be around," she added.
The strategy of most sites to ease the burden of Xmas shopping for their customers (not to mention increase sales) is to provide suggestions of gifts for each type of person.
"Every Christmas [David Jones] includes an additional category, the Christmas store. It's designed to help you have a look at your options in terms of what you want to buy," said Campbell. "People are really looking for suggestions, and options for gifts."
Despite this, a survey of 1013 people by online auction site eBay found that four out of five people would receive one or more unwanted gifts this year. At an average of AU$40 per present, eBay calculates that Australians will waste $471 million on unwanted gifts.
If you don't trust your nearest and dearest to figure out what you want for Christmas, Yahoo Australia New Zealand is promoting a Hint Dropper on their site, to avoid receiving "hideous gifts". After choosing whichever style suits you, ranging from bookworm to corporate to glamorous, you can choose which gift you want from those available and vary the hint from 'subtle' to 'sledgehammer'.
If this worked it would be bad news for eBay, who have grown used to brisk post-Christmas trade. "The biggest surge throughout the whole [2001] festive period came on the 27th when the number of items listed on eBay doubled, as did the number of bids which indicates that those who were listing their unwanted gifts were then bidding on the items they really wanted," Simon Smith, managing director of eBay Australia and New Zealand told ZDNet Australia.
However, eBay claims many people looking for bargains turn to the auction site to pick up good presents at low prices, and back this up by revealing that the first half of December 2001 saw an increase of up to 429 percent in the number of bids being made by members.
