NET SHOPPING MOSTLY BIG HIT.Byline: Rachel Beck Rachel Beck is an American reporter for the Lebanon Express in Lebanon, Oregon. Born 5 April, 1982, she was raised in Sisters, Oregon. In 2000, she graduated from Sisters High School[1]. She graduated from Vassar College with the class of 2004. Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. Early research shows the vast majority of Americans are satisfied with their online buying experiences this holiday season, but isolated horror stories horror story Story intended to elicit a strong feeling of fear. Such tales are of ancient origin and form a substantial part of folk literature. They may feature supernatural elements such as ghosts, witches, or vampires or address more realistic psychological fears. still abound, with some consumers saying they won't shop on the Web again. Especially problematic: Internet toy stores A toy store, or toy shop, is a retail business specializing in the services of selling toys. No longer held to the limitations of the brick and mortar outlet, the toy store has successfully created a presence within the e-commerce industry. whose sites were periodically swamped, who failed to promptly answer customer queries and were unable to deliver what they promised in time for Santa. ``Overall, this was nothing short of a great holiday season for most Web merchants,'' said Tom Casey, a partner at the consulting firm Noun 1. consulting firm - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting company business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a PricewaterhouseCoopers. ``But there were some problems, and not every shopper walked away happy.'' Online retailers spent heavily this year to improve their Web sites, making them easier to navigate, adding inventory and speeding up delivery systems. They also jammed the nation's newspapers and prime-time television shows with advertisements promising ease and convenience. For the most part, their efforts paid off. Web watchers estimate online Christmas sales grew about four times from a year ago to as much as $12 billion, well above forecasts at the start of the season that sales would merely double. A new survey of 3,004 home-based Internet users Internet user n → internauta m/f Internet user Internet n → internaute m/f by research firm PC Data Online and the securities firm Goldman, Sachs & Co. found that 97 percent of respondents said that their online experience met or exceeded their expectations. ``Doing my shopping with a couple of clicks was absolutely the way to go,'' said Amy Losak, of Teaneck, N.J., who bought some video games See video game console. for her nephews from Amazon.com. ``Opening up my local paper and seeing the kind of nonsense shoppers had to endure this year at the mall, I knew that I would have been tearing my hair out.'' But glitches still abounded, outraging shoppers forced to run out to stores at the last minute to replace their missing gifts. Last week, Toysrus.com said that, due to overwhelming demand, it would not be able to deliver as much as 5 percent of its orders by Christmas. Others - including eToys and KBKids.com - also have had some trouble delivering on time. Consumers also fault the toy sites for shoddy shod·dy adj. shod·di·er, shod·di·est 1. Made of or containing inferior material. 2. a. Of poor quality or craft. b. Rundown; shabby. 3. customer service such as unanswered e-mails and long waits on hold when they called. On Monday, investment firm BancBoston Robertson Stephens Inc. downgraded eToys' stock. EToys shares slumped $5, or 16 percent, to $25.9375 at 4 p.m. on the Nasdaq stock market Nasdaq stock market The first electronic stock market listing over 5000 companies. The Nasdaq stock market comprises two separate markets, namely the Nasdaq National Market, which trades large, active securities and the Nasdaq Smallcap Market that trades emerging growth companies. . ``You build a boat, and it is great for a nice, sunny day, but go out in a hurricane and see who can make it,'' said Lauren Cooks Levitan, the analyst who issued eToys' downgrade. ``That's what happened a lot to the toy sites this Christmas.'' Representatives for the companies didn't immediately return calls for comment Monday. Tara Hamre ordered a ``Toy Story 2'' train set for her 4-year-old nephew from KBKids.com in mid-December. After it failed to arrive, she made repeated phone calls to the company, but got only promises. When it hadn't arrived by Dec. 23, Hamre headed to the mall and bought him some clothes. On Monday, the company informed her the train would be shipped this week. It refunded the $59.95 price and threw in a $15 gift certificate, but Hamre isn't satisfied. ``He was so disappointed when he opened his gift and got clothes,'' said the Boston resident. ``That sticks with me. I will not shop with them again.'' Shoppers also report trouble - from late deliveries to botched botch tr.v. botched, botch·ing, botch·es 1. To ruin through clumsiness. 2. To make or perform clumsily; bungle. 3. To repair or mend clumsily. n. 1. orders - at other sites, including Macys.com, Amazon.com, Send.com, Barnesandnoble.com and CDNow. Chart: SATISFIED CUSTOMERS According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. one survey, an overwhelming majority of online holiday shoppers were satisfied with how things went. Over 3,000 home-based Internet users were asked to rate their online shopping experiences for the seven-day period ending Dec. 19. Associated Press CAPTION(S): Chart |
|
||||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion