Bridging the Analog and Digital Worlds.

Life's been good so far.

Classic rocker Joe Walsh took a break from touring with the Eagles a few years back and released a single called “Analog Man.” The lyrics include “the whole world’s living in a digital dream, it’s not really there, it’s all on the screen, makes me forget who I am, I’m an analog man.”

There’s a digital divide out there, and I am not talking about if people just have access to the world wide web and wi-fi or not. This is about a business orientation – those who worship at the high temple of all things digital, at the expense of being present for what goes on in the real or analog world. 

Lots of commerce is conducted online, evidenced by the explosive growth of Amazon - ranked as one of the most innovative companies of 2013 by the Harvard Business Review. But am I supposed to take the word of handful of either really happy or very angry people who take the time to rate their shopping experience? Is there really any objective perspective out there for user shopping experiences? How are the shopping promises made in the digital world actually delivered?

What's wrong with this picture?

According to a survey by Bain & Company there is a huge service "delivery gap" - with most companies assuming they are consistently giving customers what they want through a "superior experience" - while 9 out of 10 of their customers disagree.


Enter Stella Service. I met Jordy Leiser Stella’s - Co-Founder & CEO recently at the Data Driven
 NYC # 23 Meet-Up at Bloomberg. He touted the value of using primary data to help online retailers improve the customer experience. His company is bringing an entirely new business model to the online shopping market. As their website says “Some retailers tout great service. Stella Service finds out who really delivers.”

Jordy Leiser - CEO.

Each year, Stella Service evaluates thousands of online retailers both large and small. Their customer service performance data is driven by thousands of mystery-shopping interactions with retailers each month, collected through a process audited by global accounting and auditing firm KPMG. Their in-depth evaluations emulate a true shopping experience. 

Stella Metrics: Takes the guess work out of service delivery.

For the largest retailers in the U.S., they order online, call, email and live chat customer service questions, and monitor the responses they get back. In addition, they return products and engage in all sorts of problem resolution, including the refund process. And, it all happens undercover so their findings are unbiased and true to the shopping experience. As Forbes cited Leiser "Think about how many times you've interacted with a retailer in the last year and the percentage of times you've actually provided feedback. It's probably microscopic."

This is a brilliant business concept that bridges the promise of value delivered in a digital environment with the reality of an analog shopping experience. Jordy and his team aren’t analyzing secondary data, they are creating their own data set and helping give their clients a blinding glimpse of reality on what they deliver at the point of sale. 

Retailers can search for their own company data on the Stella website.

What actually happens when customers open the box? When then try to contact the retailer with questions and returns? These metrics are drivers of customer satisfaction that either fuel grown or spell disaster for an online retailer. Brand advocates or brand detractors in the making every day.

Stella Services offers a cool blog called "Happy Customer" that leverages their nationwide network of mystery shoppers to surface the best online customer experiences. Stella Benchmarks sheds light on various online retail categories and provides composite service level trends. It gives smart shoppers insights into online retailer performance and in kind providers competitive benchmarks for the retailers themselves.

The Wall Street Journal reported on the “winners” in the online retailing race for the most recent holiday shopping season – using Stella’s mystery shopping data points. I am sure that winners like Sears welcomed this news, and share it with hard nosed financial analysts every chance they get.