Customer Service satisfaction is key differentiator for online flower retailers

ProFlowers ranks highest in customer satisfaction with online flower retailers

ProFlowers ranks highest among online flower retailers for a second consecutive year. ProFlowers stands out for competitiveness of pricing, in-stock availability of merchandise, variety of merchandise, and website/online store, according to the J.D. Power 2016 Online Flower Retailer Satisfaction Report.

The report measures overall satisfaction with online flower retailers among customers who completed a purchase from an online flower retailer website within the past 12 months. 

Satisfaction is examined across seven factors (listed in order of importance): competitiveness of pricing; online store services and delivery; in-stock availability of merchandise; usefulness of information; variety of merchandise offered; website/online store; and contact with customer service. Satisfaction is calculated on a 1,000-point scale.

Overall satisfaction among online flower retailer customers increases to 806 in 2016 from 789 in 2015. The increase in satisfaction is attributable to significant shifts in six of the seven factors, with the exception being contact with customer service, in which satisfaction has declined by a significant 26 points to 755 from 781 in 2015.

Source: J.D. Power

The drop in customer service satisfaction is driven by a significant 6 percentage point decrease in the number of customers who received a reply to their customer service question (94% in 2016 vs. 100% in 2015).

"Customers are very loyal to the online flower retail brand they have previously used, so retailers need to meet or exceed expectations during the first customer service interaction online or by telephone," said Greg Truex, senior director of the at-home practice at J.D. Power. "Online flower retailers have a huge opportunity to increase satisfaction by implementing measures to improve the customer experience when they contact customer service."