Online shopping: extra service makes customers more tolerant

Every second Internet customer is happy to put up with longer delivery times
Only one in ten consumers is willing to pay for extra service

Consumers are happy to wait a little longer for extra service.

Around half of online customers are happy to wait a little longer for attractive special conditions  
Save, save, save: online shoppers in Germany will put up with quite a lot to receive extra services when buying on the Net. Nearly fifty per cent of consumers, for example, would compromise on delivery service in order to obtain attractive special conditions, such as free delivery and a free alteration service for clothes or take part in a reward programme. Consumers are not put off by having to disclose personal information or details of private habits either. Not quite one in ten customers, on the other hand, is willing to pay more for special services. This is a result of the latest E-Shopping-Trend 2006 study conducted by novomind in collaboration with wiwo.de and handelsblatt.com. 
  
One in three end consumers would join a customer club  
The extent to which consumers are prepared to disclose sensitive information seems to be tremendous. Just under one in three online shoppers said they could imagine providing a customer club with personal information if it meant they would receive special services free of charge in return. The 30-plus generation in particular is convinced of the benefits of the virtual consumer community. Nearly four out of ten of the 31 to 40-year-old generation are willing to disclose personal information when joining a club. Young people are also happy to accept that Internet traders require private information and about half would provide online companies with such details in return for the free use of special services. 
  
Women particularly sceptical about data protection  
Despite a general willingness on the part of customers to provide information, the electronic retail industry should be concerned about online shoppers’ confidence, as every second consumer is anxious about the adequacy of data security on the Web.
Female end consumers, in particular, are sceptical. Accordingly, more than fifty per cent of women expect the information they disclose to an online trader to remain strictly with that trader. By comparison: only 46 per cent of men are critical about passing on personal information. 
  
Background information  
The latest study, E-Shopping-Trend 2006, conducted by novomind was completed in June 2006 in collaboration with wiwo.de and handelsblatt.com. The main focus of the survey was the question of where the current trends in e-shopping and virtual marketplaces lie. The online survey was conducted with the aid of 506 respondents. 
  
novomind AG: innovative software for professional customer communications  
novomind is a software developer in Hamburg and the fastest-growing company in the field of electronic customer communications and mail management. As the leading provider of innovative solutions for digital customer communications, novomind AG provides software for service-oriented and personalised customer dealings. The software not only optimises efficiency in customer administration significantly, it also gives the user a faster return on investment. The portfolio of the Products division includes the novomind Self Service Suite™. The software package contains all the communication modules necessary for a customer service centre on a central knowledge basis: e-mail management, virtual customer consulting and systems for interactive, real-time communication. The novomind AG Services division implements complex e-business applications. More than 40 major companies have already decided in favour of novomind technology, among them Citibank, Otto, Yello Strom and the German pension institution Deutsche Rentenversicherung Bund. Club Bertelsmann, EnBW and Mexx as well as public-sector users, such as the German Bundestag (parliament) and the German Department of Trade and Industry, have already successfully introduced novomind systems to optimise their customer communications, turnover and PR. 

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