BizRate.com Launches Consumer 'Happiness Index' - InternetNews.
Independent shopping guide BizRate.com launched a Happiness Index to measure the satisfaction of online shoppers and to inform online retailers about the consumer's state of mind.
The index is designed to indicate the extent to which online merchants keep their buyers happy by satisfying each individual buyer in service areas that they consider important.
BizRate said the Happiness Index considers each buyer's unique pattern of needs and wants, and determines whether or not they are happy within this specific framework.
The index weighs 10 performance attributes by their relative importance to online buyers including: ease of ordering, product selection, product prices, product information, on-time delivery, product representation, Web site navigation and looks, customer support, posted privacy policies, and shipping and handling.
The Happiness Index for October suggests that "online retailers have considerable room for improving their relationships with buyers. Only half of all buyers meet the HI criteria for happiness, with on-time delivery being the single largest contributor to discontent."
Happiness differs by gender and category, with women and consumer goods buyers the happiest, according to the index.