1100% Surge in Instant Service Capability among Websites: Ecommerce Study Reveals

2001-03-05 (Newscast) San Francisco
ClientReps.com Study Reveals Quantum Leap in Instant Service Capability among Websites

A recent ClientReps.com study of a cross-section of the top 500 B2C websites, found that 37% of the websites have added instant service capability in order to enable live online interaction with their customers. This represents an increase of more than 1100% compared to just six months ago.

"This sudden surge in instant service among websites has huge significance," says Rick Levey, Regional Director of ClientReps.com in New York City."First, whenever one sees a clean break into a new technology this way, it is a sign that universal adoption is under way. When almost half the B2C websites have added this feature in just a few months, you can bet the other half will follow. Second, it means that websites are finally taking their customer service activity systems seriously, the absence of which has gotten them into trouble over the past years. It's kind of a way for them to confirm their pioneer status on the Web, like saying: We've been around the longest, and we've learnt the hard way what it takes to do business on the Net."

"We can confirm that there has been a tidal wave of demand ever since the new year started," says Myril Shaw, Vice President of Marketing at Seattle-based InstantService.com, the leading eCRM ASP. "Especially given today's economic climate, the fact that websites are prioritizing development in this area means that there is a powerful market shift going on. A good example of this is DiTech.com, which uses our collaboration platform to resolve support queries instantly on their online mortgage website."

"For us, instant service capability is a must-have feature, as it should be for any serious website," comments Eddie Barber, Director of Operations in London for Singapore-based NetMegaStore.net, which provides comprehensive ecommerce solutions to private label clients worldwide. "We recently added instant service capability enterprisewide across our website constellation. It is a way for us to confirm our competitive positioning by providing the highest level of service."

"Australia has still not caught on to this market trend, but I can tell that the awareness is here and growing," says Shane Hasell, Regional Manager with ClientReps.com in Australia. "The market here is quick to adopt technology leads from the US, though, and especially since it is the first players that benefit, we can expect to see the same kind of action here. As an Australian myself, I would say that we as a nation are especially fast when it comes to appreciating the Wow! factor in technology, as is the case with this particular development."

ClientReps.com is an online Customer Support Provider (CSP) with globally networked activity systems.