The weekly holiday benchmark of online shopper satisfaction from Ann Arbor-bsaed ForeSee Results suggests that online retail sites are performing much better than last year in technical terms, meaning with greater speed, more reliable speed, and fewer error messages.

Customers' ratings of site performance for the week of Dec. 6-12 this year (81.7 on the study's 100-point scale) are nearly two points higher than they were for the same period of 2009 and at their highest point since the holiday shopping season began in earnest.

A score of 80 on the satisfaction scale, derived from the American Customer Satisfaction Index, is generally regarded as the mark of excellence.

Site performance satisfaction was 81 for Thanksgiving week, 80.8 for Thanksgiving weekend, 79.4 for Cyber Monday Nov. 29, and 80.5 for the week of Nov. 29 - Dec. 5. That's up from figures of 80.2, 80.4, 79 and 79.9 for the respective periods a year earlier.

"Site performance on Cyber Monday was a little better this year than last, but this week, we've seen a huge improvement compared to both last week and last year," said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results. "It will be interesting to see how customers rate site performance this coming week, which could be the heaviest week of the season in terms of traffic volume. Hopefully, retailers have worked out the Cyber Monday kinks by now and can meet and exceed expectations for site performance this week."

Site performance is one of numerous aspects of the customer experience that ForeSee Results measures for clients. Satisfaction models are configured to measure elements that are relevant to the specific website, but most retailers measure certain common elements: customer perceptions of site performance, navigation, price, and product browsing. Of these four common elements, site performance is by far the highest scoring every week. 

Satisfaction with navigation has fluctuated in a narrow range between 74.7 and 75.0 for the entire shopping period since Nov. 22. Satisfaction with price has ranged from a low of 72.1 the week of Nov. 29 - Dec. 5 to a high of 73.2 Thanksgiving weekend Nov. 26-28. And satisfaction with product browsing has ranged from 76.1 to 76.6 throughout all the periods.

"It's great to see that retailers are getting on top of the performance issues that typically plague them during the holiday season because of the increased traffic," said Kevin Ertell, vice president of retail strategy at ForeSee Results. "Although priorities are going to differ from retailer to retailer, adequate site performance is becoming a very basic expectation of online shoppers."

The weekly benchmark from ForeSee Results also tracks how customer satisfaction with retailer Web sites changes from week to week during the holiday season. Customer satisfaction last week was at 73.6 on the study's 100-point scale, edging back up to its high point during Thanksgiving week and higher than it was in 2009.

ForeSee Results uses the proprietary methodology of the ACSI, which has a proven link to future spending and revenues. Today's benchmark is the aggregate of 137 scores for individual retail websites. Retail websites measured in the benchmark include: Ace Hardware, Bass Pro, Belk, Cabela's, Chef's Catalog, Chico's, DSW, Eddie Bauer, eBags, Gamefly, Godiva, Harry & David, Helzberg Diamonds, Home Depot, LEGO, Musician's Friend, Panasonic, Samsung, ShopNFL, Sears, Sephora, Sony Style, and others.

ForeSee Results has been releasing a weekly online satisfaction benchmark during the holiday shopping season since 2006. The data reported here represents more than 100,000 retail surveys conducted during the week of December 6 to December 12, and more than 600,000 surveys since the beginning of November.

In addition to providing an overall benchmark for online retailers during the holiday season, ForeSee Results has benchmarks for more than a dozen subcategories of retail (such as mass merchants, toys, gifts, sporting goods, and entertainment, among others), making it easier for retailers to assess their own performance, relative to their peers.

Among ForeSee Results' largest retail benchmarks, apparel and accessories retailers are clearly providing the most satisfying experience online, by a wide margin, though all categories saw gains in satisfaction last week.

Satisfaction with apparel and accessories stores has ranged from 76.6 to 77.9 over the period, peaking the most recent week. Satisfaction with computers and electronics stores has ranged from 63.6 to 65.0, also with the highest number coming the most recent week. And satisfaction with specialty retailers has ranged from 73.6 to 74.1 -- again, with the highest score coming the most recent week.

More at www.ForeSeeResults.com. 

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