For years Internet merchants have poured millions of dollars into new technologies to make their sites easier to use. So why aren’t online customers happier
Customer satisfaction levels have remained almost flat through the last several years. The problem, according to Larry Freed, chief executive of a consulting and research firm called ForeSee Results, is not so much that consumers have ignored the many improvements made in recent years. Rather, he said, they still expect more from Internet shopping than it has delivered.
"If we walk into a local store, we don’t expect that experience to be better than it was a couple years ago," Mr. Freed said. "But we expect sites to be better. The bar goes up every year." In ForeSee’s latest survey, released last month, just five e-commerce sites registered scores higher than 80 out of 100, and no site scored higher than 85. It was much the same story a year ago, when just five scored higher than 80, with no site surpassing 85. "Scores have inched up over time for the best e-commerce companies, but the overall numbers haven’t moved drastically," Mr. Freed said. "At the same time though, if you don’t do anything you see your scores drop steadily."
That dynamic has been a challenge for online merchants and investors, who a decade ago envisioned Internet stores as relatively inexpensive (and therefore extremely profitable ) operations. Now some observers predict a future where online retailers will essentially adopt something like the QVC model, with sales staff pitching the site’s merchandise with polished video presentations, produced in a high-tech television studio.
QVC. com is evolving in that direction. The Web site, which sold more than $1 billion in merchandise’ in 2006, has for the last five years let visitors watch a live feed of the network’s broadcast. But in recent months, QVC. com has also given visitors the chance to watch archives of entire shows, and in the coming months visitors will be able to find more video segments from recent shows, featuring individual products that remain in stock. Bob Myers, senior vice president of QVC. com, said the Web site’s video salesmanship is especially effective when combined with detailed product information, customer reviews and multiple photographs.
About eight months ago, for instance, a customer said that she could not determine the size of a handbag from the photographs on the site because she could not tell the height of the model who was holding it. Within two weeks the site tested and introduced a new system, showing the bags with women of three different heights. The results were immediate: women who saw the new photographs bought the bags at least 10 percent more frequently than those who had not.
Still, Mr. Myers said, video is a critically important element to sales. "E-commerce started with television commerce," he said. "The sites who engage and entertain customers will be winning here in the near future." Such a prospect is not necessarily daunting to other e-commerce executives. Gordon Magee, head of Internet marketing for Drs. Foster & Smith, based in a Rhinelander, Wis. said a transition to video "will be seamless for us." The company, Mr. Magee said, has in recent weeks discussed putting some of its product on video "so customers could see a 360-degree view they don’t have to manipulate themselves.
The result of Foresee’s recent survey shows that

A:there isn’t a huge increase in customer satisfaction. B:some companies have to watch theft scores drop steadily. C:E-commerce companies will soon fall out of business. D:shopping experience in local stores can’t be better.

For years Internet merchants have poured millions of dollars into new technologies to make their sites easier to use. So why aren’t online customers happier
Customer satisfaction levels have remained almost fiat through the last several years. The problem, according to Larry Freed, chief executive of a consulting and research firm called ForeSee Results, is not so much that consumers have ignored the many improvements made in recent years. Rather, be said, they still expect more from Internet shopping than it has delivered.
"If we walk into a local store, we don’t expect that experience to be better than it was a couple years ago," Mr. Freed said. "But we expect sites to be better. The bar goes up every year." In ForeSee’s latest survey, released last month, just five e-commerce sites registered scores higher than 80 out of 100, and no site scored higher than 85. It was much the same story a year ago, when just five scored higher than 80, with no site surpassing 85. "Scores have inched up over time for the best e-commerce companies, but the overall numbers haven’t moved drastically," Mr. Freed said. "At the same time though, if you don’t do anything you see your scores drop steadily."
That dynamic has been a challenge for online merchants and investors, who a decade ago envisioned. Internet stores as relatively inexpensive (and therefore extremely profitable) operations. Now some observers predict a future where online retailers will essentially adopt something like the QVC model, with sales staff pitching the site’s merchandise with polished video presentations, produced in a high-tech television studio.
QVC.com is evolving in that direction. The Web site, which sold more than $1 billion in merchandise in 2006, has for the last five years let visitors watch a live feed of the network’s broadcast. But in recent months, QVC.com has also given visitors the chance to watch archives of entire shows, and in the coming months visitors will be able to find more video segments from recent shows, featuring individual products that remain in stock. Bob Myers, senior vice president of QVC.com, said the Web site’s video salesmanship is especially effective when combined with detailed product information, customer reviews and multiple photographs.
About eight months ago, for instance, a customer said that she could not determine the size of a handbag from the photographs on the site because she could not tell the height of the model who was holding it. Within two weeks the site tested and introduced a new system, showing the bags with women of three different heights. The results were immediate: women who saw the new photographs bought the bags at least 10 percent more frequently than those who had not.
Still, Mr. Myers said, video is a critically important element to sales. "E-commerce started with television commerce," he said. "The sites who engage and entertain customers will be winning here in the near future." Such a prospect is not necessarily daunting to other e-commerce executives. Gordon Magee, head of Internet marketing for Drs. Foster & Smith, based in a Rhinelander, Wis., said a transition to video "will be seamless for us." The company, Mr. Magee said, has in recent weeks discussed putting some of its product on video "so customers could see a 360-degree view they don’t have to manipulate themselves./
The result of Foresee’ s recent survey shows that

A:there isn’t a huge increase in customer satisfaction. B:some companies have to watch their scores drop steadily. C:E-commerce companies will soon fall out of business. D:shopping experience in local stores can’t be better.

For college students and their parents, the steady high tuition prices in recent decades has been not only troubling but mysterious: why on earth is tuition inflation double the general inflation rate What’s behind these huge tuition bills: Less public funding The cost of acquiring real estate
Over the last two decades, colleges and universities doubled their full-time support staff while enrollment increased only 40 percent, according to a new analysis of government data by the Center for College Afford-ability and Productivity. During the same period, the staff of full-time instructors, or equivalent personnel, rose about 50 percent, while the number of managers increased slightly more than 50 percent. The data, based on United States Department of Education filings from more than 2,782 colleges, come from 1987 to 2007.
Neither the report nor outside experts on college affordability went so far as to argue that the increase in support staff was directly responsible for spiraling tuition. Most experts say that the largest driver of tuition increases has been the decline in state financing for higher eduction. Still, the data findings raise concerns about administrative bloat (膨胀). "On a case-by-case basis, many of these hiring decisions might be good ones, but over all, it’s not a sustainable trend," said Pat Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.
The growth in support staff included some jobs that did not exist 20 years ago, like environmental sustainability officers and a broad array of information technology workers. The support staff category includes many different jobs, like residential-life staff, admissions and recruitment officers, fund-raisers, loan counselors and all the back-office staff positions responsible for complying with the new regulations. "A lot of it is definitely trying to keep up with the Joneses," said Daniel Bennett, a labor economist, "Universities and colleges are catering more to students, trying to make college a lifestyle, not just people getting an education. There’s more social programs, more athletics, more trainers, more sustainable environmental programs."
In the 20-year period, the report found, the greatest number of jobs added, more than 630,000, were instructors—but three-quarters of those were part-time. Converted to full-time equivalents, those resulted in a total of 939,000 teaching jobs, up from 641,000 in 1987. "Colleges have altered the composition of their work force by steadily increasing the number of managerial positions and support or service staff, while at the same time disproportionately increasing the number of part-time staff that provides instruction," the report said, "meanwhile, employee productivity relative to enrollment and degrees awarded has been relatively flat in the midst of rising compensation./
What does the increasing of support stuff result in

A:The change of the structure of the work force in colleges. B:The disproportion of part-time staff providing instruction. C:The steadily increasing tuition prices in universities and colleges. D:Low employee productivity relative to enrollment and degrees awarded.

For years Internet merchants have poured millions of dollars into new technologies to make their sites easier to use. So why aren’t online customers happier
Customer satisfaction levels have remained almost fiat through the last several years. The problem, according to Larry Freed, chief executive of a consulting and research firm called ForeSee Results, is not so much that consumers have ignored the many improvements made in recent years. Rather, be said, they still expect more from Internet shopping than it has delivered.
"If we walk into a local store, we don’t expect that experience to be better than it was a couple years ago," Mr. Freed said. "But we expect sites to be better. The bar goes up every year." In ForeSee’s latest survey, released last month, just five e-commerce sites registered scores higher than 80 out of 100, and no site scored higher than 85. It was much the same story a year ago, when just five scored higher than 80, with no site surpassing 85. "Scores have inched up over time for the best e-commerce companies, but the overall numbers haven’t moved drastically," Mr. Freed said. "At the same time though, if you don’t do anything you see your scores drop steadily."
That dynamic has been a challenge for online merchants and investors, who a decade ago envisioned. Internet stores as relatively inexpensive (and therefore extremely profitable) operations. Now some observers predict a future where online retailers will essentially adopt something like the QVC model, with sales staff pitching the site’s merchandise with polished video presentations, produced in a high-tech television studio.
QVC.com is evolving in that direction. The Web site, which sold more than $1 billion in merchandise in 2006, has for the last five years let visitors watch a live feed of the network’s broadcast. But in recent months, QVC.com has also given visitors the chance to watch archives of entire shows, and in the coming months visitors will be able to find more video segments from recent shows, featuring individual products that remain in stock. Bob Myers, senior vice president of QVC.com, said the Web site’s video salesmanship is especially effective when combined with detailed product information, customer reviews and multiple photographs.
About eight months ago, for instance, a customer said that she could not determine the size of a handbag from the photographs on the site because she could not tell the height of the model who was holding it. Within two weeks the site tested and introduced a new system, showing the bags with women of three different heights. The results were immediate: women who saw the new photographs bought the bags at least 10 percent more frequently than those who had not.
Still, Mr. Myers said, video is a critically important element to sales. "E-commerce started with television commerce," he said. "The sites who engage and entertain customers will be winning here in the near future." Such a prospect is not necessarily daunting to other e-commerce executives. Gordon Magee, head of Internet marketing for Drs. Foster & Smith, based in a Rhinelander, Wis., said a transition to video "will be seamless for us." The company, Mr. Magee said, has in recent weeks discussed putting some of its product on video "so customers could see a 360-degree view they don’t have to manipulate themselves.

A:there isn’t a huge increase in customer satisfaction B:some companies have to watch their scores drop steadily C:E-commerce companies will soon fall out of business D:shopping experience in local stores can’t be better

For years Internet merchants have poured millions of dollars into new technologies to make their sites easier to use. So why aren’t online customers happier
Customer satisfaction levels have remained almost flat through the last several years. The problem, according to Larry Freed, chief executive of a consulting and research firm called ForeSee Results, is not so much that consumers have ignored the many improvements made in recent years. Rather, he said, they still expect more from Internet shopping than it has delivered.
"If we walk into a local store, we don’t expect that experience to be better than it was a couple years ago," Mr. Freed said. "But we expect sites to be better. The bar goes up every year. " In ForeSee’s latest survey, released last month, just five e-commerce sites registered scores higher than 80 out of 100, and no site scored higher than 85. It was much the same story a year ago, when just five scored higher than 80, with no site surpassing 85. "Scores have inched up over time for the best e-commerce companies, but the overall numbers haven’t moved drastically," Mr. Freed said. "At the same time though, if you don’t do anything you see your scores drop steadily. "
That dynamic has been a challenge for online merchants and investors, who a decade ago envisioned Internet stores as relatively inexpensive (and therefore extremely profitable) operations. Now some observers predict a future where online retailers will essentially adopt something like the QVC model, with sales staff pitching the site’s merchandise with polished video presentations, produced in a high-tech television studio.
QVC.com is evolving in that direction. The Web site, which sold more than $1 billion in merchandise in 2006, has for the last five years let visitors watch a live feed of the network’s broadcast. But in recent months, QVC.com has also given visitors the chance to watch archives of entire shows, and in the coming months visitors will be able to find more video segments from recent shows, featuring individual products that remain in stock. Bob Myers, senior vice president of QVC.com, said the Web site’s video salesmanship is especially effective when combined with detailed product information, customer reviews and multiple photographs.
About eight months ago, for instance, a customer said that she could not determine the size of a handbag from the photographs on the site because she could not tell the height of the model who was holding it. Within two weeks the site tested and introduced a new system, showing the bags with women of three different heights. The results were immediate: women who saw the new photographs bought the bags at least 10 percent more frequently than those who had not.
Still, Mr. Myers said, video is a critically important element to sales. "E-commerce started with television commerce," he said. "The sites who engage and entertain customers will be winning here in the near future. " Such a prospect is not necessarily daunting to other e-commerce executives. Gordon Magee, head of Internet marketing for Drs. Foster & Smith, based in a Rhinelander, Wis. , said a transition to video "will be seamless for us. " The company, Mr. Magee said, has in recent weeks discussed putting some of its product on video "so customers could see a 360-degree view they don’t have to manipulate themselves.

A:there isn’t a huge increase in customer satisfaction B:some companies have to watch their scores drop steadily C:E-commerce companies will soon fall out of business D:shopping experience in local stores can’t be better

The combined sales of the 100 largest foreign investing companies in the U. S. increased by a 40% in the two years between 1977 and 1979, and the number has continued to increase steadily. In 1980 South Africa proved to be the largest financial investor in the U. S. controlling about $19. 2 billion in sales. The Netherlands and the U. K. follow as second largest investors--and Germany next. New to the list of the top 100 foreign investors are 12 banking and finance and insurance companies--the largest, the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp. , from Hong Kong. The number of Latin American companies engaged in business here is growing steadily, often through third country holding companies.
Why are so many firms coming to the U. S. There are many reasons. One of the greatest attractions, of course, is a market of over 200 million consumers with a high average per capital income. In addition, with the devalued dollar the cost of American labor has declined significantly, relative to many foreign labor costs. Some firms seeking to avoid economic and/or political pressures at home find the U. S. a politically stable environment in which to work.
Many hope to be able to continue selling to the American market even if the U. S. government restricts imports further, or if major price changes occur due to currency fluctuations (波动). Many foreigners are attracted by U.S. technology, its modem management methods, its labor saving and mass production techniques.

A:South Africa controlled about ＄19.9 billion in sales in 1980. B:There were more and more Latin American companies engaged in business in the U. S.. C:In 1979 Hong Kong was the largest foreign investor in the U. S.. D:The combined sales of the top 100 foreign investing companies increased steadily.

(A number) of these (who) (study) engineering is improving (steadily).

A:A number B:who C:study D:steadily

The combined sales of the 100 largest foreign investing companies in the U. S. increased by a 40% in the two years between 1977 and 1979, and the number has continued to increase steadily. In 1980 South Africa proved to be the largest financial investor in the U. S. controlling about $19. 2 billion in sales. The Netherlands and the U. K. follow as second largest investors--and Germany next. New to the list of the top 100 foreign investors are 12 banking and finance and insurance companies--the largest, the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp. , from Hong Kong. The number of Latin American companies engaged in business here is growing steadily, often through third country holding companies.
Why are so many firms coming to the U. S. There are many reasons. One of the greatest attractions, of course, is a market of over 200 million consumers with a high average per capital income. In addition, with the devalued dollar the cost of American labor has declined significantly, relative to many foreign labor costs. Some firms seeking to avoid economic and/or political pressures at home find the U. S. a politically stable environment in which to work.
Many hope to be able to continue selling to the American market even if the U. S. government restricts imports further, or if major price changes occur due to currency fluctuations (波动). Many foreigners are attracted by U.S. technology, its modem management methods, its labor saving and mass production techniques.

A:South Africa controlled about ＄19.9 billion in sales in 1980. B:There were more and more Latin American companies engaged in business in the U. S.. C:In 1979 Hong Kong was the largest foreign investor in the U. S.. D:The combined sales of the top 100 foreign investing companies increased steadily.

(A number) of these (who) (study) engineering is improving (steadily).

A:A number B:who C:study D:steadily