Cisco Ranks Top E-Tailers

The top 10 overall e-commerce sites, in rank order of flawless execution that make online shopping exceptionally easy for consumers are Amazon.com, Best Buy, Sears, Circuit City, Quelle, Otto, Macy’s, FNAC, Bol.com and Argos Home Retail Group, says Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group.

But mobile shopping and social networking are redefining the online experience, Cisco says. "Two big take-aways emerged," says Lindsay Parker, Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group director. "Most significant was mobility." The second big thing was importance of social networking, Parker says.

"We accessed the sites using mobile devices and found that of the 45, 42 percent allow viewing of product information," Parker says. "Many appear to have refortmatted for mobile screens."

"But only 15 percent support transactions," she notes. And only 10 percent support SMS communications. On some sites, customers can use SMS capabilities to check inventory and be notified when an order is ready for pickup.

On transaction side, "Amazon does a terrific job in terms of ease of use," says Parker. The Amazon site "clearly is designed for mobile navigation and completing transactions."

"Amazon really shows what a good mobile site looks like," Parker says.

From social networking angle, Parker was surprised that only 17 percent of sites provided connection to communities on the site, a place where you could interact with other customers, or with Facebook.

"Amazon did that best, as well," says Parker. But 52 percent of sites did provide shopper reviews That's important because perhaps 50 percent of shoppers indicate they checked a review before buying online, she adds.

"One big change we see is that as you talk about customer experience, it is much more of a 'pull' world rather than a 'push' world," Parker says. "The consumer is more in control."

Retailers who figure this out will be well ahead, she adds.

Cisco expects mobile commerce to follow an adoption pattern similar to that of cell phones, an important fact since there are three times as many mobile-phone subscribers (3.3 billion) as Internet users (1.3 billion) worldwide.

The Cisco IBSG study assessed 45 retailers from North America and Europe in three categories (Global 500, Web 15 and Innovators) and looked at two aspects of online shopping from the consumer’s point of view. The first is “foundational” capabilities, which are nonnegotiable, “must have” characteristics. These include an intuitive graphical user interface, search capabilities and a convenient purchasing process. The second is “emerging” capabilities, which are the more sophisticated aspects, such as social networking and multichannel integration, that add even greater value to the customer’s experience.