However, T-Mobile’s site is being chased closely by the Orange website, after significant improvements have seen it rocket into second place since the last survey in January 2008. Vodafone increased its score but still slipped to third. O2 came fourth with a score of 59%, Virgin fifth with 55% and 3 came sixth with 53%.
The Global Reviews' Comparing the Phone Sites benchmark objectively measured customers' experience on six leading mobile phone websites: T-Mobile, Orange, Vodafone, Virgin, O2 and 3. The sites were assessed against more than 500 objective criteria including content and tools, customer support, prospective customer information, purchasing process and site utility.
The study found that O2 leads the way for content and tools online with a score of 70%. Virgin scored just 59% for this category. The benchmark revealed that T-Mobile offers the best customer support online (71%). Vodafone scored only 43% for this category. Orange and Virgin are the most improved in this area, with increases of 16 and 18 percentage points respectively to 61% and 62%.
Vodafone was found to offer the best information for prospective new customers (69%). Virgin and Three scored just 41%. T-Mobile came top again with a score of 78% for site utility (the navigation of the site). This is an impressive leap of 20 percentage points since the last benchmark.
Top Tips for improving customer experience online
Provide contextual help throughout the website. At the beginning and during the purchase process offer help specifically about the purchase process making it clear what the customer has to provide, why you need it and what happens once the online transaction has been completed.
Provide clear information about all fees and charges of each tariff in the form of a comparison table to enable the customer to understand the differences between tariffs.
Have good contact accessibility for customers who want to switch channels at any stage or contact a real person with a question. Some customers will only use the website for researching, so give clear telephone numbers and store finder information to help convert the offline purchase.
Global reviews director, Adam Goodvach, said: "It is crucial that providers take advantage of the increasingly important role of their websites to maximise their potential sales. Customers' expectations are continuously changing, and providers must be ahead of the game, constantly developing their websites to ensure they offer the products and services users want."