In more detail, Freed offers these four key elements and some of the notable trends and priorities gleaned from the 2008 data:

Brand: How well does the website communicate the unique brand attributes, consistency with brand images from other channels and positive feelings about the brand? "The top priority item for e-retailers in the aggregate is brand," Freed writes, "meaning there is work to be done to align the way the brand is communicated online with the way it is communicated in other channels."

Site Experience: What is the quality of the website's organization, navigation, product information, special features and tools? "Site experience follows very closely behind [brand] as a priority," Freed contends, "indicating need for improvement."

Merchandise: What is the variety, desirability and availability of the website's merchandise? Overall, he writes, "shoppers seem to be happy with the availability and variety of merchandise online."

Price: What is the customers' perceived suitability and competitiveness of the products' prices? According to ForeSee Results research, "while consumers will almost always say they want a better price," Freed notes, "lowering prices wouldn't make people much more loyal or likely to buy."

Freed suggests that one way e-retailers can identify the improvements that will have the greatest impact on the bottom line is to use customer satisfaction analytics to hone in on specific problem areas, such as search, navigation or product descriptions, and then "apply usability audits or usability reviews to prescribe specific improvements for greater cost-efficiency and effectiveness."

As to the online satisfaction leaders, Netflix.com, QVC.com and Amazon.com are the "titans of online customer satisfaction" and are "standard-setters across all industries," Freed writes. "The superior online experience they provide colors customers' expectations when they interact online with anyone else, whether it's their bank, their investment firm, a social networking site or the Post Office."