Internet Usability and Customer Experience

Abstract

The boom and bust of the dotcom mania has provided some significant wisdom to the general business community. Many of the now defunct dotcom companies were focused solely on customer acquisition. The more people who visited the site (“eyeballs”), they reasoned, the better their business would fare. This was generally accomplished through sub-cost prices and marketing gimmicks. Unfortunately, this led to a price-sensitive customer for whom the competition was only “a click away.” The failure of these companies, and of the business model they engendered, has led to an increased focus on customer loyalty. It turns out that developing a core of loyal, long term customers provides a much better return on investment and a sustainable business model. It is far cheaper to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new one and repeat customers spend over twice per year what new customers spend. Customer loyalty evolves as a company meets the short term and long term needs of its customers. Some of these needs may be the overt, explicitly stated needs such as buying a pair of shoes. Other needs may be more intrinsic and emotion-based, such as the need to feel part of a community or to feel safe and protected. Companies that satisfy both kinds of needs stimulate customer loyalty, while those that do not experience significant customer churn. The term that has evolved to denote the degree of satisfaction of these needs is customer experience.