Elias St. Elmo Lewis mapped out the route that potential customers take prior to purchasing a product. It’s referred to as the Purchase Funnel because it’s depicted as an inverted triangle funneling folks down to the moment they pull out their wallet. There are four steps in the process:

• Awareness – the customer is aware of the existence of a product or service
• Interest – actively expressing an interest in a product group
• Desire – aspiring to a particular brand or product
• Action – taking the next step towards purchasing the chosen product

Mr. St. Elmo Lewis came up with this idea in 1898, slightly before the invention of the internet.

Since then, things have changed a little and that’s the subject of About.com’s latest report which they call “The Purchase Loop.”

Like most people who shop online, I pay attention to the reviews posted about an item before I make the decision to buy. It seems like the prudent thing to do except for one thing – reviews are notoriously inaccurate. I was looking at laptops last week and my first choice had reviews that ranged from “Excellent computer for the price” to “Piece of garbage” with little in between.

In the past week, I’ve seen a review on a book the reviewer didn’t read and I saw a DVD review where a woman gave it 1 star because she bought the wrong item. Add in all the phony, paid for positive reviews and you definitely can’t believe what you read. Still, a recent study by Weber Shandwick shows that 65% of potential consumer electronics buyers were inspired to consider a different brand after reading a review.

Amazon made it through another holiday season with big bucks and a whole lot of happy customers. According to ForeSee’s annual  Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index, Amazon matched their record high with an 88 out of 100, the best score on the chart.

26 other online retailers came in at 80 or above, which is a very impressive score. They include LLBean.com, QVC.com and Vistaprint. But for the average retailer, customer satisfaction appears to have hit a sticking point. Look at this comparison of the rise in online spending versus the rise in customer satisfaction.

Makes me wonder what it is we’re missing. If Amazon is only an 88, what would be a 100 in customer’s minds? A personal shopper that does all the work for you? Free merchandise? Items made to order? Cracking the 90 spot doesn’t seem possible.

The clock is running out for holiday shoppers but RetailMeNot says that 55% of consumers are only half way done with their shopping . With that in mind, here are the results of a few surveys that could help you reel in those last minute customers.

Fast Free Delivery

We’ve heard this one before but it’s still a huge factor in online shopping, especially around the holidays. ShopRunner says:

77% of consumers would spend more online and less in stores if free 1-2 day shipping was offered.  Additionally, having more faster free shipping options would drive 65% of shoppers to procrastinate and put off making purchases longer than usual.