Dr Kevin McCrohan is a Professor of Marketing – School of Management at George Mason University in Virginia, United States. A PhD from City University of New York, his research interests include marketing and efficient functioning of profit and non-profit organisations, competitive intelligence, information security, methods of marketing compliance for fiscal and philanthropic organisations and economic measurement to fill gaps in administrative data sets. Dr McCrohan has been a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the School of Management, Kathmandu University, Nepal as well as at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. During his recent visit to Kathmandu, he delivered a talk on ‘Customer Satisfaction in E-Commerce: Issues and Solutions’ and its implications for Nepal as the main theme under ‘SAIM Lecture Series’ initiated by South Asian Institute of Management, Lalitpur. In an interview with New Business Age , Dr McCrohan shared his views on the importance of customer satisfaction in e-commerce from Nepal’s perspective. Excerpts:

How does customer satisfaction work in an e-commerce scenario?

We have a relationship between the firm and the customer in which they trust each other over the course of a transaction. It is of overriding importance that all the participants that deal with that transaction online can be trusted upon, particularly with personal and financial information.

 

What was the focus of the talk programme today?

It was to make people aware of the fact that the firms have the best of intention out in the cyber world, while dealing with customers online. Of course, there are scores of mischievous elements who are trying to steal money. In the bargain, it breaks the trust between the consumer and the firm. As a result, the consumers stop dealing with the firm.  I was totally fascinated with the programme today. It was delightful and certainly a privilege to be here.

 

It is very hard to monitor customer satisfaction on the web as you don’t physically see the customer. How do you overcome this challenge and ensure they are satisfied?

You can contact them after the purchase through e-mail and find out if they are satisfied and if the product is working out for them as promised. You could also do surveys with your online customers by asking questions pertaining to their satisfaction level with respect to your firm and its products. I must point out that when people complain, paying attention to those complaints is critical. Marketing is about word-of-mouth. In today’s age of online blogs, a bad experience is posted and gets conveyed to n-number of people.

 

You need to benchmark yourself. In the western world like the European countries and the United States, there are customer satisfaction surveys that pop up online highlighting firms and organisations. The response thus generated can be tracked by the firms. For small firms, the best way is to design a questionnaire and occasionally contact the customers and try to determine how they can better serve them. They can appreciate the consumers for their valued feedback and thank them for helping them in their endeavour for ensuring improved customer service.

 

To reduce customer apprehension and assure customers of legitimacy, how important is it to post “Customer Certified Ratings” on the web site?

If you can quote an online source, that’s even better. But if you can quote your own survey, that is still good. You can thank them and apprise them of your growth over a period of time. By doing that, you let the customer know you are monitoring customer satisfaction as it is important to you. You also convey a message that you are paying attention to what the customers tell you.

 

Online retail sales still make up only a small portion of overall retail sales in the US but satisfied consumers are expanding their purchases online. How do you view this?

It’s neither good nor bad. In late 1990s and early 2000s, a lot of research projected that the growth rate for e-commerce would reach unprecedented heights and everything will be online. But there was a vital element missing from those surveys. In a country like the United States for example, shopping is recreation. A lot of people are what we can refer to as, full-contact shoppers – they love to shop.

 

There is no way that e-commerce is going to replace the actual experience of going to the store with family and friends, feeling the goods and shop in person. Almost everybody compare the shops online but still end up at the store to buy products first-hand. The real challenge for large e-retailers is to somehow convince more people to actually buy online. I have a statistic that tells me 25-30 per cent of amazon.com’s purchases are left in the cart – people go through the process of selecting goods and are ready to buy but eventually end up not buying.

 

Customer satisfaction is non-existent in any kind of business in the third world countries. Except for the developed countries, do you see any potential whatsoever, for e-commerce in such countries?

Exactly. One of the points I was trying to make during my presentation was that the concept of customer satisfaction does not exist in a country like Nepal. The market is in the United States and European countries. The beautiful carpets and woodworks that Nepali craftsmen make are phenomenal. The only way to reach the customers all around the world is to tell them about these products. In the US, a friend of mine wanted to buy a khukuri for his son. It took him five months in 1999 to contact the firm here. The only way he knew about khukuri was that I gave him one after one of my visits to Nepal. Now, all that can be done online.

 

It is not an issue that customer satisfaction does not exist in Nepal. What matters is that it exists where you have to sell. Customer satisfaction only exists where there is oversupply. The tragedy of the world is that people in a lot of countries have so little to spare but those in the United States, Europe and Japan have a lot of money. That’s the kind of consumers you have to reach. If some Nepali product needs to find a presence in the United States, for example, it has to be either word-of-mouth or online. So, a website showcasing local products to a worldwide audience will certainly help.

 

People in rich countries are looking to buy something new and different. The products made in Nepal are certainly new, different and beautiful. You need to sell them to the people in these affluent countries. But then, if left unsatisfied, these people will go online and badmouth not just the product but the firm and the country as well. They will also go to the extent of recommending and advising others against dealing with the country they are disappointed with. That’s where the customer satisfaction impacts, not in your country but in the market you are catering to.