BELLEVUE, Wash. -- According to a new study from The Customer Respect Group here, 39% of retailers across distribution sectors share online customers' data with business partners without seeking permission.
The Customer Respect Group, a research and consulting firm that focuses on how companies treat their customers online, reported this finding in its "Spring 2004 Online Customer Respect Study" released last month. The study ranked 52 retailers that are among the largest 1,000 U.S. companies on simplicity of navigation, responsiveness to inquiries, respect for privacy, customer-focus, transparency of policies, and respect for customer data.
Retailers scored highest in simplicity, but poorly on respect for data, with 39% sharing customers' data without permission, and 20% sharing it with affiliates. In addition, 94% of online forms were deemed difficult to use by people with disabilities.
Food retailers receiving the highest scores (on a 0 to 10 scale) were Albertsons (7.8); Kroger (6.7); Publix (6.4); Pathmark (5.8); Winn-Dixie (5.8); and Safeway (5.3).
