Online retailers must improve their customer service if they are to reap the rewards of the growing e-commerce market which is set to reach more than £60bn by 2012.

An independent survey found that 45 per cent of retailers failed to reply to customer emails and only 47 per cent of those that did provided accurate information.

Customer service specialist Talisma contacted 62 leading online retailers via email and phone to pose questions and awarded each a score out of 100.

Health and beauty retailers provided the best experience with an average score of 65 and all emails and phone calls answered promptly.

In contrast, just 23 per cent of emails were responded to by clothing and accessories retailers and only 31 per cent provide wholly accurate information via email.

The average score across all online retailers was 51 points, with key failures in the speed of response (45 per cent did not respond at all), accuracy of information (53 per cent provided inaccurate information) and personalisation of customer service.

‘The online retail market is growing rapidly but its highly competitive nature means that customer satisfaction and loyalty will be key for retailers to generate repeat business and growth,’ said Talisma vice president Jon McNerney.

‘Today’s increasingly sophisticated, internet-savvy shoppers expect speed and efficiency. Therefore, the most successful online retailers will be the ones that respond to enquiries immediately with accurate information.’