Cyber Monday sales strong, but shoppers less satisfied, Ann Arbor's ForeSee Results says

Cyber Monday shoppers were noticeably less satisfied with their online retail experience despite spending more than in recent years, according to a study by Ann Arbor-based ForeSee Results.

ForeSee Results reported a customer satisfaction score of 73.1 percent, on a scale of 100, for Cyber Monday shoppers. That’s down from 75.9 in 2008 and 76.6 in 2007.

The decline could be an indication that strong online sales early in the holiday shopping season may not continue. Some reports suggested that Cyber Monday sales were up 11 percent to more than $900 million.

“Our data shows that shoppers are less likely to purchase online and offline this year than in any other year we’ve measured, which could indicate that the rosy year-over-year revenue numbers we’ve seen so far may not keep up through the holiday season,” ForeSee Results CEO Larry Freed said in a news release.

“While we should see a modest increase in online sales overall this year, it will be the retailers who are satisfying customers online who will reap the true rewards.”

Notably, people who actually bought products online were more satisfied than last year. Their satisfaction score was up from 82.3 to 83.1.

That means, however, that an increasing number of shoppers are abandoning their online shopping expeditions without making a purchase.

“Browsers are a much larger part of the population, and their declining satisfaction could prove to be a major obstacle to the opportunity for growth,” said Kevin Ertell, ForeSee’s vice president of retail strategy, in a statement.

ForeSee Results, whose client base includes large retailers like Best Buy and Target, conducts an average of 1 million online surveys a month. That jumps to about 1.5 million during the holiday season.

Contact AnnArbor.com’s Nathan Bomey at (734) 623-2587 or nathanbomey@annarbor.com. You can also follow him on Twitter.