Overstock.com
Company: Overstock.com, Salt Lake City, UT
Company Description: Overstock.com, Inc. is an online "closeout" retailer offering discount, brand-name merchandise for sale on the Internet. Overstock.com, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is lead by CEO Patrick Byrne and received the #2 spot in customer service rankings among all US retailers, according to rankings in the 2008 NRF Customer Service Survey in 2008.
Nomination Category: Customer Service Awards Department Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Customer Service Department of the Year - Retail
Nomination Title: Overstock.com
Tell the story about what this nominated department achieved since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:
In January 2010, Overstock.com for the second year in a row earned the #2 spot
in customer service rankings among all U.S. retailers, according to rankings
published in the 2010 NRF Foundation/American Express Customer Service Survey.
Source: http://www.nrf.com/modules.php?name=News&op=viewlive&sp_id=876 and
http://www.nrffoundation.com/Partners_and_Resources/CustServChoiceAwards...
Overstock.com's rank surpassed online retailers Zappos.com (#3) and Amazon.com
(#4), and is only behind #1 ranked L.L. Bean
"Outstanding customer service begins and ends with a retailer's core belief
that every single customer is important," said Kathy Mance, Vice President,
NRF Foundation. "Overstock.com has continuously demonstrated this philosophy
and we congratulate them on their recognition as one of the best retailers in
customer service."
Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said, "All credit goes to my 1,000 colleagues,
and especially, our Customer Care agents. Under the direction of SVP of
Marketing and Customer Care Stormy Simon and VP of Customer Care Brian
Popelka, our Customer Care team has made us a customer-centric organization.
It is because of them that in the last five years Overstock.com has gone from
being unranked to being #2 for the second year in a row. We would like to
thank the consumers of America for speaking so highly of us: there are a
thousand folks here that are gratified to know that their hard work is so
appreciated."
Byrne continued: "Congratulations to the other retailers who were ranked in
the top 10. It is an honor to be ranked among such fine companies. And I look
forward to 2010's rankings."
About the Survey
The NRF Foundation is the research and education arm of the National Retail
Federation. A non-profit foundation created in 1981, the foundation conducts
industry research, develops education and workforce development programs,
professional certification programs, and promotes retailing as a career
destination.
The NRF Foundation/American Express Customer Service Survey which polled 8,167
consumers was conducted by consumer marketing intelligence firm BIGresearch
from September 2-9, 2008. The consumer poll has a margin of error of plus or
minus 1.0 percent. Consumers answered the open ended question, "Thinking of
all the different retail formats (store, catalog, internet, or home shopping),
which retailer delivers the best customer service?" In order to develop a fair
comparison, regardless of a retailer's size or geographic coverage, the
consumer survey responses were compared to each retailer's 2007 revenues to
develop the overall rankings.
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc. is an online retailer offering brand-name merchandise at
discount prices. The company offers its customers an opportunity to shop for
bargains conveniently, while offering its suppliers an alternative inventory
distribution channel. Overstock.com, headquartered in Salt Lake City, is a
publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global Market System and can be
found online at http://www.overstock.com/. Overstock.com regularly posts
information about the company and other related matters on its website under
the heading "Investor Relations."
List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:
http://www.overstock.com/excellent-customer-service/21333/static.html
http://blog.nrf.com/2010/01/12/top-ten-retailers-for-customer-service/
Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the leader(s) of the nominated customer service organization:
Stormy D. Simon SVP, Marketing and Customer Care
Since joining Overstock.com in 2001 Stormy Simon has held various marketing
and management positions. These include Director of B2B, and VP responsibility
for overseeing BMMG, Auctions, Travel, and various other programs, as well as
serving as Chief of Staff to the CEO. Stormy currently serves in a dual role
as the Senior Vice President of both Marketing and Customer Care. Besides
being responsible for all of Overstock's internet marketing efforts, Stormy
also oversees Overstock's offline marketing efforts, writing and producing all
television, radio and print advertising, handling all media buys, and is
responsible for Public Relations. Stormy has restructured the Customer Care
department around cross-functional teams, set up certification and online
education programs for customer care agents, implemented CRM software by
RightNow Technologies to improve agents' responsiveness, and announced her
ambition of perfecting the customer experience. Thanks to Stormy by 2007
Overstock.com earned the #4 spot in customer service rankings among all US
retailers, according to rankings published by the NRF Foundation/American
Express Customer Service Survey, and maintained #4 ranking in 2008. In 2009
she improved Overstock.com to the #2 spot on that same list. CEO Patrick Byrne
said of Stormy, "I have learned a lesson I wish to share with corporate
America: if you want to make your company customer-centric, just take the most
stubborn, unbending, hard-headed, customer-loving employee you have, and put
her over customer service. The company gets customer-centric quicker than you
ever thought possible."