Increased revenue and improved customer service are better measures of online retail success than traditional profitability measurements, according to a new KPMG study.
Two-thirds of the companies surveyed said they focus online strategies on enhancing communications with and exposure to customers, rather than sales and profitability. “We were surprised to see that companies who consider their OLR program to be successful, measure that success by non-traditional standards, such as improved communications with their customers,” said Robin Palmer, global services leader for KPMG’s Electronic Commerce practice, in a statement.
A full 30% of the respondents cited increased revenue as a success measurement, while 29% considered increased name recognition and the ability to provide faster customer service as contributing factors to success. The respondents also mentioned cost reduction, sales completed and number of hits to the site as important, but secondary considerations to success.
This way of thinking was disputed by at least one online retailer which hopes to make a profit out of its site this year.
The major accounting firm surveyed 225 vice president-level executives from the top-2,000 consumer markets and financial services companies in the U.S.
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