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Larry Freed, President and CEO of ForeSee Results: Online retailers seem to be figuring out how to maximize the value of the increased traffic they see during the holidays, starting with Cyber Monday.

Cyber Monday shoppers were more satisfied with their online experience in 2007 than they were in 2006, according to a new study from an online customer satisfaction measurement firm ForeSee Results.

Satisfaction was slightly lower on Cyber Monday than it was over the holiday weekend and earlier in the month, but e-retailers are showing an increased ability to use their website to influence multichannel sales.

"The increase in customer satisfaction year-over-year on Cyber Monday bodes well both for sales during the holiday season and during the rest of the year," said Larry Freed, President and CEO of ForeSee Results. "Online retailers seem to be figuring out how to maximize the value of the increased traffic they see during the holidays, starting with Cyber Monday."

SURVEY RESULTS:
1. Cyber Monday shoppers were more satisfied in 2007 than on the same day in previous years. In 2007, Cyber Monday customer satisfaction was up 1.3% or one point from satisfaction levels in 2006.

2. Satisfaction on Cyber Monday itself was slightly lower than it was over the holiday weekend, but the dip wasn't as great as in past years. The small drop in satisfaction can be attributed to two main causes:

• Strain on systems due to volume: even though retailers handled this better than ever this year, early estimates indicate record numbers of shoppers on Cyber Monday, which is always a challenge.
  
• More first-time and infrequent shoppers: Cyber Monday promotions and advertising bring many new and infrequent visitors who are likely to be less satisfied with their online shopping experience as a result of unfamiliarity with the site.

3. Retailers are finally figuring out how to integrate the web into an effective multichannnel strategy. One of the unique attributes of the customer satisfaction methodology used to conduct this research is its proven ability to predict future behaviors based on overall satisfaction scores.

For the first time since ForeSee Results started producing a holiday benchmark in 2004, online shoppers were more likely to buy both online and offline on Cyber Monday and in the weeks leading up to it.

"In past years, we've seen a much less integrated multichannel strategy; shoppers were likely to either buy online or offline, but not both," said Freed. "This year, we see that retailers have figured out a way to use the online visit to drive sales both online and offline, which really maximizes the value of the website for a multichannel retailer."

ForeSee Results is the market leader in using online voice-of-customer data to help companies increase sales, loyalty, recommendations, and website value. ForeSee Results, a privately held company, is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and on the web at www.ForeSeeResults.com.