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JUPITER RESEARCH REPORTS THAT COMPANIES ARE FAILING AT ONLINE CUSTOMER SERVICE DESPITE GROWTH IN ONLINE CRM SPENDING
(New York, NY - February 20, 2003) - The latest findings from Jupiter Research, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation (Nasdaq: JUPM), reveal that companies are failing to meet basic consumer expectations for service via e-mail which is resulting in shoppers turning to the telephone for customer service. While 88% of consumers surveyed expect a response to e-mail inquiries within 24 hours, only 54% of companies sampled in Jupiter Research's latest Customer Service Webtrack met these expectations, the same percentage as in 2001, despite the fact that CRM spending continues to rise. Jupiter Research reports that CRM spending will continue to grow at a rapid rate through 2008, according to its latest Market Forecast Report, "CRM Through 2008."Jupiter Research Senior Analyst David Daniels warns, "Companies that fail to get serious about their management of customer service e-mail now, will pay the price with higher customer service costs and lost revenues down the line. This issue will be compounded as customer service e-mail inquiries will rise from 1.0 billion in 2001 to 3.3 billion in 2008. Inadequate service in the online channel only accelerates the rate at which customers turn to their telephone - companies without efficient management of their customer service e-mails are better off sending site visitors directly to their phone support center," stated Daniels.
Jupiter Research also recently released its Jupiter Market Forecast Report "CRM Through 2008", which reports that online CRM technology spending will grow from $2.3 billion in 2003 to $4.7 billion in 2008, accounting for 25% of the $18.9 billion of overall CRM spending. The spending increase in the CRM market is spurred by the continued growth of contact center employees. Financial services companies will continue to be the largest spenders on CRM, as their expenditures will increase from $3.4 billion in 2003 to $5.9 billion in 2008, accounting for 31% of the overall spending on CRM at that time. Daniels adds that "Companies must take an incremental approach to deploying CRM and that successful CRM deployments are more dependent on an organization's ability to attain a coordinated customer focus throughout the enterprise than it is on the CRM technology itself."
The complete findings of these reports are immediately available to Jupiter Research clients online. For more information please contact Kieran Kelly at [email protected] or call 1-800-481-1212.
About Jupitermedia Corporation
Jupitermedia Corporation (Nasdaq: JUPM), (www.jupitermedia.com)
headquartered in Darien, CT, is a leading provider of global real-time news, information, research and media resources for information technology and Internet industry professionals. Jupitermedia includes the internet.com and EarthWeb.com Network of over 150 Web sites and 175 e-mail newsletters that generate over 200 million page views monthly. Jupitermedia also includes Jupiter Research, a leading international research advisory organization specializing in business and technology market research in 18 business areas and 10 vertical markets. In addition, Jupiter Events include nearly 40 offline conferences and trade shows focused on IT and business-specific topics, including Computer Digital Expo, America's 21st Century Information Technology Conference & Expo (www.cdxpo.com).
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties address a variety of subjects including, for example, the competitive environment in which Jupitermedia Corporation competes; the unpredictability of Jupitermedia Corporation's future revenues, expenses, cash flows and stock price; Jupitermedia Corporation's ability to integrate acquired businesses, products and personnel into its existing businesses; Jupitermedia Corporation's international and venture fund investments; any material change in Jupitermedia Corporation's intellectual property rights and continued growth and acceptance of information technology and the Internet. For a more detailed discussion of such risks and uncertainties, refer to Jupitermedia Corporation's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date of this press release, and Jupitermedia Corporation assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements after the date hereof.
CONTACT:
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Trylon Communications
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All current Jupitermedia Corporation press releases can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.internet.com/corporate/press.html.
