PC World named worst online retailer in poll

Published on 18/10/2012 00:00

COMPUTER giant PC World has been named Britain’s worst online retailer in a poll of shoppers.

• PC World named Britain’s worst retailer in customer poll

• Liz Earle, Amazon, Richer Sounds, Lakeland and John Lewis among retailers to occupy top spots

• Homebase and DIY.com also among lowest performers in survey

Just 51 per cent of PC World customers surveyed said they had been happy with their experience of shopping at its website.

Cosmetics company Liz Earle scored most highly, with shoppers giving the company a top score of 94 per cent and praising it for offering free samples and personalised packaging.

More than 14,000 people took part in the Which? survey, which rated online sites on overall customer satisfaction.

The research follows an 
Office of Fair Trading (OFT) 
investigation into retailers 
who are failing to meet online trading regulations.

The OFT has written to 62 
retailers after a check of 156 
websites found problems including unreasonable restrictions on refunds, inadequate contact details and unexpected charges at the checkout.

Amazon was rated most highly for both outdoor and leisure goods and for books, CDs, DVDs and computer games.

John Lewis was the most 
recommended retailer for buying baby and child products, electrical items and DIY and 
garden products.

Lakeland was the most popular retailer of furniture and homeware products, while Clarks was the most highly rated retailer in the clothes, shoes and accessories category.

Liz Earle customers said they enjoyed the attention to detail shown by the company, whose packages come with a free 
product sample and a card signed by the shop assistant who boxes the purchase.

John Lewis was also praised for its attention to detail, with one customer saying: “Despite being an online shop it feels 
almost personal.”

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “With household budgets squeezed, it’s no surprise that many more consumers are doing more of their shopping online, with seven out of ten people saying they shop online for cheaper prices.

“But it’s clear some online retailers need to raise their game, with people complaining of delays with deliveries, faulty items and poor stock availability.

“Although we’ve found many are providing excellent customer service, we want to see the rest not only meeting the minimum fair trading rules but catching up with the best.”

POLL RESULTS

BEST FIVE

1 LizEarle.com 94%

2 JohnLewis.com 89%

3 Amazon.co.uk 87%

=4 Lakeland.co.uk 86%

=4 RicherSounds.com 86%

WORST FIVE

97 PCWorld.co.uk 51%

96 DIY.com (B&Q) 54%

95 Achica.com 55%

=93 Pixmania.co.uk 56%

=93 Homebase.co.uk 56%