Consumer expectations for online shopping continue to increase, while maintaining consistency at scale is becoming more difficult for retailers. Changes during the past quarter were driven by operations rather than website redesigns or brand campaigns, a new report from Humii and Inside Retail found.

One of the retailers recording a decline was Glassons. Refund times increased from around seven days to 16 days in some cases. Customers also reported limited updates on the status of returns and refunds, creating uncertainty during the process.

The findings are in the report titled Movers & Losers: What’s really shifting in online CX?, available for download here.

When shoppers do not know where they are in the process or when they will receive a response, delays can create uncertainty. The findings suggest that communication can play a role alongside processing times in shaping shoppers’ experiences of returns and refunds.

Other retailers recording lower rankings during the quarter included Ghanda and Forever New. For Forever New, the report identified issues relating to product search and pre-purchase support. Customer feedback cited issues relating to site navigation and access to support channels.

In contrast, New Balance moved up the rankings. The retailer reported an average dispatch time of approximately 1.5 days. That was half a day faster than the average recorded within the sporting goods category.

Customers also reported accessing support teams via email and live chat, with many questions resolved without escalation.

Other retailers recording gains included VRG GRL, Lululemon and Sheet Society. The findings suggest that movements in customer experience rankings are often linked to operational execution rather than large-scale redesigns.

Communication, response times, returns processes and expectation management were among the factors associated with movements in the rankings.

As consumer expectations continue to change, some retailers have been better positioned to maintain their performance. These retailers tended to respond to operational issues as they arose.

“Customers may not see the internal complexity of retail operations, but they do remember whether the experience was easy to understand and whether they knew what to expect,” the report said.

The report explores the factors behind movements among both leading and lower-ranked retailers. You can download the report here.