B&N Ranked Top in Customer Experience

For the second year in a row, consumers rank Barnes & Noble #1 when it comes to customer experience, according to results of Forrester Research’s third “Customer Experience Index.”

Forrester asked more than 4,600 U.S. consumers to rate their experiences with 133 companies spanning more than 14 industries based on three factors: "meets needs," "easy to work with" and “enjoyability.”

In general, retailers, hotels and parcel-shipping companies ranked highest, and health insurers, TV service providers and Internet service providers ranked lowest.

Amazon.com ranked fourth, behind Marriott hotels/resorts (#2) and Hampton Inn/Suites (#3).

Other retailers ranked highly included JC Penney, Macy’s, BJ’s Wholesale Club and Costco (tied at seventh place); eBay, Target and Lowe’s (tied at 14th place); Borders and Sam’s Club (tied at 18th place); Walgreens and Best Buy (tied at 21st place); and Home Depot, CVS and Sears (tied at 24th place). Best Buy and Macy's were the retailers that showed the most improvement since the last index research. 

Just 13 companies pulled “excellent” ratings, 35 were judged “good,” 40 “okay,” and 45 “poor” or “very poor.”

According to a Forbes CMO Network piece by Forrester VP/principal analyst Bruce Temkin, keys to superior customer experience include focusing on customer needs rather than product features; reinforcing the brand with every customer contact; and treating customer experience as a companywide competence rather than a function performed by specific individuals.

The pay-offs? On average, customer experience leaders have 14% more customers willing to buy from them, 16% more customers reluctant to switch to competitors, and 17% more customers likely to recommend them to others, Temkin reported. 
--K. Lukovitz