Report: online marketers will lose $13.5 billion in 2001

Poor customer service has its cost: $13.5 billion this year, according to market analysis firm Datamonitor. In its report "Online for the Holidays," Datamonitor projects that less-than-satisfactory online service will result in $13.5 billion in lost sales this year for online marketers.

The report also estimates that 69.4% of all online transactions are abandoned, because of slow processing speeds, concerns over security, high shipping-and-handling charges, and related issues. A sizable 8.1% of those transactions were abandoned because online catalogers failed to provide consumers with a means of having their questions answered as they shopped.

But optimists, take note: Although Datamonitor estimates that only 30.6% of online transactions were completed this year, that’s up from 25.4% last year.