Apple slips in online customer satisfaction


ForeSee, who runs those annoying popup surveys, is reporting Apple has slipped a few points among online customers, reports All Things D. Apple's score fell to 80, down 3 points from 2011. Comparatively, Dell ranked 77 and Sony 79.

The report speculates some of the fall could be the result controversial changes installed by former retail chief John Browett. Some changes may have directly affected customers, while others were not popular among Apple employees, which may have made an indirect impact. Still, Apple fell in areas that have gone relatively unchanged from year to year.

ForeSee's surveys measure four elements of customer satisfaction: Merchandise appeal, competitiveness of price, Web site functionality and Web site content. Clearly, not all of those elements were under Browett's control. And it's not evident where, exactly, Apple suffered declines. ForeSee says only that "Web site functionality" is a top priority for improvement at Apple. It's worth noting, though, that that functionality isn't so different from what it was last year, when Apple placed in ForeSee's top five.


All Things D