For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Extending Online Customer Service To The Mobile Channel

by Diane Clarkson, September 9, 2010

eBusiness decisions to employ mobile commerce, apps, and self-service features have garnered the lion's share of mobile strategy. But what happens when users need customer service from within a mobile Web site or app? Those customers need immediate and . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Forrester's Email Marketing Review Scorecard

by Shar VanBoskirk, September 2, 2010

Forrester updated its Email Marketing Review (EMR) methodology to reflect interactive media changes that affect email marketing efficiency and relevance. As with our past email review methodologies, Forrester’s Email Marketing Review Scorecard evaluates . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

What Every Exec Needs To Know About The Future of eCommerce Technology

How Online And Multichannel Capabilities Are Transforming Business

by Brian K. Walker, August 27, 2010

We are in a highly transformative time as changing customer expectations, commerce capabilities, and technology continue to evolve rapidly. Initiatives that just a few short years ago would have seemed a long way off — such as mobile commerce, app stores, . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

How Canadian Insurance Customers Use Different Channels

by Ellen Carney, Peter Wannemacher, August 24, 2010

Canadians still use the phone as their primary channel for insurance. In fact, the phone was the only channel used by a majority of online Canadian insurance customers in the past year, while fewer than one in three customers used an insurer's Web site . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Satisfied Are US Consumers With Online Chat?

by Adele Sage, August 3, 2010

Companies are increasingly offering online chat as an interaction channel for customers and prospects. But how successful are those interactions? Of the 18% of consumers who have used chat, most are initiating the interactions themselves, rather than . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Trends: Leaders At FedEx, Time Warner Cable, And USAA Weigh In

A Panel Discussion At The 2010 Customer Experience Forum

by Paul Hagen, August 3, 2010

Highlights of the Trends In Customer Experience panel at Forrester's Customer Experience Forum 2010 included a debate about the need for a chief customer officer (CCO), a prediction that "Web sites are dead," and a discussion of strategies for cross-channel . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Making The Case For The Mobile Internet

by Seth Fowler, Julie A. Ask, July 29, 2010

The mobile Internet has changed completely over the past few years. It has transformed from a lightly visited and marginally useful novelty to a quickly growing medium that business would be foolish to ignore. Handsets have powerful browsers, networks . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

The State Of Retailing Online 2010: Marketing, Social Commerce, And Mobile

by Sucharita Mulpuru, July 29, 2010

The annual fielding of "The State of Retailing Online," a Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research, asked Web retailers to share levels of interactive marketing spend, effectiveness of social commerce initiatives, and investment in mobile activity. . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Lack Of Awareness And Weak Design Hamper Adoption Of Internet-Based PHRs

by Elizabeth Boehm, July 29, 2010

Internet-based personal health records (PHRs) give consumers a place to store and maintain their personal health histories, access tools that help monitor and improve health, and increasingly connect to external health data sources. So why are so few . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

The State Of Mobile Commerce In Europe

Mobile Commerce Is Still Nascent And Shows A Small But Growing Market Opportunity

by Lauriane Camus, Thomas Husson, July 13, 2010

European mobile commerce is still at an early stage. Digital content is still the primary product purchased via mobile devices, but consumers show growing interest in using their mobile phone for all sorts of shopping activities. Many enablers are in . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Satisfied Are Consumers With Phone Experiences In 2010?

Consumers Rate Their Satisfaction With Phone Experiences Across 13 Industries

by Megan Burns, July 12, 2010

For many companies, the phone is a major channel through which they interact with customers. Forrester surveyed 4,653 consumers to find out how satisfied they were with the phone interactions they had with companies across 13 different industries. Marriott . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

How To Build A Mobile Web Site

Choosing An Approach To Meet Your Objectives Cost-Effectively

by Julie A. Ask, June 29, 2010

The browser-based mobile Web experience is more important than ever, with dramatic growth in the usage of the mobile Internet — especially from smartphones — in the past 24 months. In 2009, consumer brands built iPhone applications; they are now asking . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Companies Improve Their Customer Experience Index Scores

by Paul Hagen, June 28, 2010

Decision-makers at firms with low Customer Experience Index (CxPi) scores are more likely to say that they have insufficient budgets and lack executive support as well as less likely to say that they are focusing on improving cross-channel interactions. . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Selecting Online Customer Service Channels To Satisfy Customers And Reduce Costs

by Diane Clarkson, June 25, 2010

From a customer service perspective, right-channeling means providing your customers with satisfying service through the lowest-cost channel. For most eBusinesses, improving right-channeling requires expanding online customer service options. eBusiness . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Steve Madden Invests In Mobile Fundamentals

by Sucharita Mulpuru, June 22, 2010

Steve Madden is a designer and manufacturer of contemporary women's, men's, and children's shoes and accessories; its products are available through both Steve Madden-branded stores, the company's Web site, and other retail partners, such as department . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Attention Health Plans: Consumers Want Control Over Their Communications Preferences

by Elizabeth Boehm, June 18, 2010

Health plans want to engage consumers, but are their communications getting through? Consumers want control over their communications preferences, and only a third say that health plans do a good job of honoring those preferences. Why does it matter? . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Scorecard: Web-Mobile User Experience Review 8.0

by Adele Sage, Vidya L. Drego, June 10, 2010

This is the working scorecard for Forrester's Web-Mobile User Experience Review, version 8.0. It evaluates single-channel experiences on the Web site and the mobile site, and then looks at the cross-channel experience across the Web site and the mobile . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Case Study: Mandarin Oriental Creates A Brand-Appropriate Mobile Experience

The Hotel Group Provides Luxury Travelers With A Customized Mobile Web Site

by Vidya L. Drego, June 8, 2010

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group (MOHG) noticed that a growing percentage of its Web traffic came from mobile devices. To address a growing need, the team partnered with Siteworx to design and build a customized mobile Web site that was tailored to the needs . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Scorecard: Mobile Web Site User Experience Review 2.0

by Vidya L. Drego, June 7, 2010

This is the working scorecard for Forrester's Mobile Web Site User Experience Review, version 2.0.

For Customer Experience Professionals

Web-Phone User Experience 2010: PC Laptop Manufacturers

Forrester Applies Its Web-Phone User Experience Review Methodology To Four Top US Firms

by Adele Sage, May 27, 2010

Forrester applied its Web-Phone User Experience Review methodology to the experiences at four large PC laptop manufacturers: Apple, Dell, HP, and Toshiba. The results: Apple came out ahead, but the overall experiences across the PC manufacturers earned . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Executive Q&A: IVR User Experience Reviews

by Adele Sage, May 19, 2010

Forrester's IVR User Experience Review uncovers flaws that prevent users from accomplishing key goals in interactive voice response (IVR) systems. This document provides answers to some of the common questions we've been asked about Forrester's IVR User . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

How Satisfied Are US Consumers With Store-To-Web Shopping?

by Adele Sage, May 17, 2010

Only half of consumers are satisfied with their experiences when researching apparel/footwear/accessories, consumer electronics, and wireless products and services in a store and then purchasing on the company's Web site. They cite common grievances like . . .

For Consumer Product Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Yahoo! Fantasy Football

Mobile Consumers Create Multichannel Value

by Julie A. Ask, May 13, 2010

Most consumer product and services companies work from the assumption that multichannel customers are the most valuable. All the evidence indicates that this is true. They also assume that mobile consumers are a subset of online consumers. This is mostly, . . .

For eBusiness & Channel Strategy Professionals

Case Study: Skandia UK Evolves Online And Improves Multichannel Communications

by Chad Mitchell, May 4, 2010

In 2007, Skandia UK underwent a metamorphosis of its business, as its online investment business overtook its life and pensions business to become the largest business segment by total assets. More customers migrated online for sales and services and . . .

For Customer Experience Professionals

Customer Experience Imperatives For A Fragile Recovery

by Jonathan Browne, April 14, 2010

As firms emerge from the recession, budgets for customer experience are growing, but pressure remains to deliver quick, measurable returns. Chief customer experience officers (CC/EOs) must get stakeholders to understand their location on the road map . . .