BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE:   Business Week ebiz
DATA MINE Oct. 29, 1999 On the Web, Experience Is the Brand Is the e-tail game over in early categories such as books, music, and travel? Could be, according to a new study of 200 Web shoppers. It found that 55% of Web buyers are already loyal to their preferred Web sites and see switching brands as a nuisance. But it's not because they were blitzed with advertisements and other traditional brand-building techniques. Rather, their loyalty is based almost entirely on how good the buying experience is. Likewise, if the experience is bad, shoppers do not hesitate to click over to a rival site. And getting them to return is tough: Only 20% said special offers and incentives would bring them back. Keys to Web brand loyalty Ease of use and navigation 37% Fast response time 36% Familiarity 36% Relevant and accurate information 27% Killers of Web brand loyalty Outdated information 26% Slow response times 24% Site downtime 22% Poor customer service 16% DATA: Cognitiative Inc. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP					MORE NUGGETS The Mother Lode Collected nuggets from Data Mine