Amazon, John Lewis and Marks & Spencer are among the online retailers receiving the highest satisfaction scores from UK consumers.
Foresee, a consultancy, surveyed nearly 10,000 respondents, and found that "highly satisfied" shoppers registered a 57% improvement in their commitment to specific retailers.
Moreover, the propensity to make purchases via the web from sellers meeting their needs rose 59% in these cases, a figure hitting 33% for buying goods in a firm's equivalent bricks-and-mortar stores.
Positive word of mouth also experiences a substantial uplift, as happy customers record a 69% leap regarding the probability they will recommend the organisation concerned.
The top 40 internet retailers posted an average satisfaction rating of 72 points, on a 100-point scale, in 2010, an increase from 71 points in 2009 and 67 points in 2008.
Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk were measured separately and headed the list on 84 points and 83 points respectively.
The company led the rankings across all the metrics assessed by Foresee, encompassing price, merchandise, functionality and content.
Play.com retained third, jumping two points to 81 - and coming in the top three on the various areas monitored by Foresee - while John Lewis' website claimed 78 points, up from 77 points in 2009.
"Over the past year our multi-channel operation has grown significantly to a point where it is now a vital part of our business, with our online operation accounting for 20% of trade," said Andrea O'Donnell, commercial director, John Lewis.
"Now our customers can also order online and pick up from a shop, order online in a shop and order on their mobiles. Our commitment to customer service is equally applicable to all these purchasing experiences."
Marks & Spencer enjoyed a five-point surge to 78 points, with Argos climbing four points, to 77 points.
All of these corporations fell in the mass merchant category, which yielded a typical reading of 75 points, above the median total.
Apple dominated the computer and electronics charts on 75 points, beating the industry average of 70 points, and six points ahead of Currys and Hewlett Packard, and seven points in front of Comet and Dell.
Indeed, Dell generated the largest decline of the seven providers that witnessed a drop year-on-year, off by three points.
Next was pre-eminent in the apparel sector on 74 points, followed by ASOS on 73 points, New Look on 72 points and Topshop on 69 points.
Travel and tourism delivered a norm of 79 points, ranging from 72 points for easyJet and Expedia to just 61 points for RyanAir, the lowest-scoring of the featured companies.
HMV and Lovefilm tied on 76 points in the books, CDs and DVD segment, which has embraced the new media space.
"The way we present the products that we stock and merchandising to our customers in-store has always been one of the qualities that we pride ourselves on," said Sarah Hughes, the head of online and digital at HMV.
"It's really encouraging to learn that our online shoppers at hmv.com are finding the same engaging experience."
Fewer than 3% of consumers were primarily influenced by social media channels, while 10% came to specific websites as a result of promotional emails, and 13% through a search engine.
Elsewhere, 10% of participants accessed the platforms they had rated using a mobile phone, mostly after originally looking up prices or researching products.
But only 1.3% of all netizens had completed a transaction from their handset.
Foresee, a consultancy, surveyed nearly 10,000 respondents, and found that "highly satisfied" shoppers registered a 57% improvement in their commitment to specific retailers.
Moreover, the propensity to make purchases via the web from sellers meeting their needs rose 59% in these cases, a figure hitting 33% for buying goods in a firm's equivalent bricks-and-mortar stores.
Positive word of mouth also experiences a substantial uplift, as happy customers record a 69% leap regarding the probability they will recommend the organisation concerned.
The top 40 internet retailers posted an average satisfaction rating of 72 points, on a 100-point scale, in 2010, an increase from 71 points in 2009 and 67 points in 2008.
Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk were measured separately and headed the list on 84 points and 83 points respectively.
The company led the rankings across all the metrics assessed by Foresee, encompassing price, merchandise, functionality and content.
Play.com retained third, jumping two points to 81 - and coming in the top three on the various areas monitored by Foresee - while John Lewis' website claimed 78 points, up from 77 points in 2009.
"Over the past year our multi-channel operation has grown significantly to a point where it is now a vital part of our business, with our online operation accounting for 20% of trade," said Andrea O'Donnell, commercial director, John Lewis.
"Now our customers can also order online and pick up from a shop, order online in a shop and order on their mobiles. Our commitment to customer service is equally applicable to all these purchasing experiences."
Marks & Spencer enjoyed a five-point surge to 78 points, with Argos climbing four points, to 77 points.
All of these corporations fell in the mass merchant category, which yielded a typical reading of 75 points, above the median total.
Apple dominated the computer and electronics charts on 75 points, beating the industry average of 70 points, and six points ahead of Currys and Hewlett Packard, and seven points in front of Comet and Dell.
Indeed, Dell generated the largest decline of the seven providers that witnessed a drop year-on-year, off by three points.
Next was pre-eminent in the apparel sector on 74 points, followed by ASOS on 73 points, New Look on 72 points and Topshop on 69 points.
Travel and tourism delivered a norm of 79 points, ranging from 72 points for easyJet and Expedia to just 61 points for RyanAir, the lowest-scoring of the featured companies.
HMV and Lovefilm tied on 76 points in the books, CDs and DVD segment, which has embraced the new media space.
"The way we present the products that we stock and merchandising to our customers in-store has always been one of the qualities that we pride ourselves on," said Sarah Hughes, the head of online and digital at HMV.
"It's really encouraging to learn that our online shoppers at hmv.com are finding the same engaging experience."
Fewer than 3% of consumers were primarily influenced by social media channels, while 10% came to specific websites as a result of promotional emails, and 13% through a search engine.
Elsewhere, 10% of participants accessed the platforms they had rated using a mobile phone, mostly after originally looking up prices or researching products.
But only 1.3% of all netizens had completed a transaction from their handset.
