BizRate.com Launches Consumer ‘Happiness Index’

Independent shopping guide BizRate.com launched a Happiness Index to
measure the satisfaction of online shoppers and to inform online retailers
about the consumer’s state of mind.

The index is designed to indicate the extent to which online merchants keep
their buyers happy by satisfying each individual buyer in service areas that
they consider important.

BizRate said the Happiness Index considers each buyer’s unique pattern of
needs and wants, and determines whether or not they are happy within this
specific framework.

The index weighs 10 performance attributes by their relative importance to
online buyers including: ease of ordering, product selection, product prices,
product information, on-time delivery, product representation, Web site
navigation and looks, customer support, posted privacy policies, and shipping
and handling.

The Happiness Index for October suggests that “online retailers have
considerable room for improving their relationships with buyers. Only half of
all buyers meet the HI criteria for happiness, with on-time delivery being
the single largest contributor to discontent.”

Happiness differs by gender and category, with women and consumer goods
buyers the happiest, according to the index.