Miller-Williams Inc. Research Shows Customers Evaluate E-Commerce Companies More by What They Do Offline Than Online.

Business Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 24, 2002

Top E-Commerce Companies Analyzed:

Amazon.com, AOL-Time Warner, BN.com, eBay, Monster.com and Yahoo

In an interesting turn of opinion, e-commerce customers feel that over 80 percent of their decision to purchase or not resides in issues beyond their online experience, according to Miller-Williams research released today.

The research was based on interviews with 976 active customers of various e-commerce companies (excluding travel) today: Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN), AOL-Time Warner (NYSE:AOL), BN.com (NYSE:BKS), eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY), Monster.com (Nasdaq:TMPW) and Yahoo (Nasdaq:YHOO). Current customers, defected customers and prospects were asked to describe their ideal e-commerce company vis-a-vis a subset of the top e-commerce companies. Each company included here had at least 200 respondents.

Of the five drivers customers use to evaluate e-commerce companies, the Clicks Interaction driver makes up only 15 percent of decision-making. The Clicks driver contains all the online aspects of what customers experience. Other drivers include Brand Performance (35 percent), Financial Longevity (18 percent), Strategic Direction (17 percent) and Bricks Interaction (15 percent). Customers see the value of a well-performing brand and today's top e-commerce companies are clearly meeting their expectations. Companies should continue, or increase if warranted, their investments in traditional advertising campaigns.

Amazon.com (Nasdaq:AMZN) is the premier e-commerce company, having translated their Brand Performance into value on the Bricks Interaction. The research shows their value here is essentially the equivalent of a retail storefront, something that customers don't see in the other e-commerce companies.

With strong consensus though, customers feel that e-commerce companies need to better demonstrate their financial security. What's more interesting is that customers do not necessarily equate financial resources with security. Instead, customers see a company's aggressiveness and ability to seize new markets as increasing their financial longevity. After analyzing 27 bricks & mortar and e-commerce market leading companies, customers ranked Oracle (Nasdaq:ORCL) number one in terms of financial security, outperforming others such as AOL-Time Warner, Dell Computer and General Motors.

http://www.millwill.com/images/chart-ecomm1.gif

"This shows us why so many recent activities and acquisitions have been taking place in e-commerce," said Miller-Williams CEO, Gary A. Williams. "Their revenues and profits are stabilizing and becoming more predictable so they make nice merger or alliance candidates. E-Commerce customers are voting with their dollars, and the winners are companies that have shown their brand strength and ability to execute in a proven market space."

While the US Census Bureau reports e-commerce revenues at $9.85 billion for Q1-2002, the Miller-Williams research shows that a large portion of untapped customer value remains for industry growth. Five types of e-commerce customers exist: Sensibles, Agonizers, Hagglers, Loners and Techies. The largest levels of untapped value, totaling about $19 billion, exists in just two customer segments: Sensibles and Hagglers.

http://www.millwill.com/images/chart-ecomm2.gif

Sensibles, defined by their desire for human interaction and decision-approach, make-up 37 percent of all customers but are less than 10 percent tapped. Sensibles believe that Amazon.com is best at delivering value to them.

For a complimentary 9-page Executive Summary, join our business member community at www.millwill.com/member-bus.htm. The summary report contains full details on the research including a list of action items for e-commerce initiatives to be more successful. The complete E-Commerce Customers 2002 report is part of an extensive, proprietary research library available only to Miller-Williams subscribing members. Each subscribing member receives their Customer Scoreboard(TM) report (quarterly) that analyzes untapped value, new revenue sources and competitive benchmarks for their company to make better sales, marketing and service decisions.

About the Research

Miller-Williams Inc. conducted the research independent from any e-commerce company to ensure unbiased results. Using its database of over 2 million responses, Miller-Williams invited a random sample of e-commerce customers to participate in a 10-minute online interview. Certain respondents were disqualified if they were not potential e-commerce customers, were not familiar with the e-commerce companies measured, or faked their responses (note: the M-W system distinguishes between natural and systematic responses to ensure the most accurate and reliable data possible).

Miller-Williams analyzed the data from 976 total respondents, with at least 200 respondents per company required for inclusion in the study. At a 95 percent confidence level, the margin of error is +/- 3.2 percentage points.

About Miller-Williams Inc.

Miller-Williams Inc. provides customer research to senior executives at many of today's most influential corporations to help them deliver results. Executives obtain a fresh, unbiased and decisive analysis of where customer revenue growth exists for their company. The company delivers results to the executive in concise reports and briefings -- with the drill-down details available for further analysis -- to enable or rule-out activities under evaluation. The measurable outcomes from Miller-Williams research show executives how and where to focus resources in sales, marketing, service and other customer-driven initiatives. Miller-Williams Inc. has over 1,200 members that renew at a 92 percent rate and represent many of the world's largest and most prestigious corporations.

Miller-Williams is the collective effort of Robert B. Miller, co-author of Strategic Selling(R), and Gary A. Williams, co-author of "Change The Way You Persuade" in Harvard Business Review, May-2002. For more information, please visit www.millwill.com or call 800/790-6070.

Strategic Selling is a registered trademark of Miller-Heiman, Inc. and MHI is in no way affiliated with Miller-Williams.