REUTERS -- Too many Web sites are ignoring their customers by not replying to customer e-mail inquiries, taking too long to reply or not being accessible by e-mail, according to Jupiter Communications, a media research firm that focuses on new media.

In a report issued this week, Jupiter said 42 percent of the top-ranked Web sites either took longer than five days to reply to customer e-mail, never replied or offered no e-mail accessibility.

It said the report shows that Web sites are ignoring the opportunity to communicate with existing and potential customers and discouraging brand loyalty. It accused them of "opting out of a user-initiated, one-to-one relationship by not offering, delaying, or eliminating responses to e-mail."

The Jupiter report focused on 125 sites in five categories: content, consumer brands, travel, retail, and financial services. Most retail shopping sites performed the best, with 54 percent responding in less than one day, it said.

However, for example, 19 percent of the travel sites tested took at least three days or never responded to Jupiter's inquiries.

"This effort illustrates that many Web sites have been unable or unprepared to respond to the flood of user questions that come in via e-mail from their sites," Ken Allard, group director of Jupiter's Site Operation Strategies, said in a news release.

"Answering thousands of questions per month is an enormous challenge for sites offering complex products and services, especially if they never had a traditional call center. Yet, companies that delay responses to user questions instantly lose a significant degree of credibility and user loyalty, and not responding perpetuates the consumer notion that using the Web site is not a reliable method of doing business with that company," he added.

Jupiter recommended that sites develop or utilize some form of "auto-acknowledge" feature that responds to all incoming requests and estimates a time frame for how long it will take to respond to the question.

The firm said it expects that 85 percent to 90 percent of sites within high-service categories such as travel, retail and financial services will be able to respond to questions within one business day by the middle of 1999.

Jupiter Communications LLC, established in 1986, is an independent, privately held company with offices in New York City and London, England.

Copyright 1998, Newsday Inc.

Customer Service Lacking on Web / Report shows companies slow to reply to e-mail., 11-13-1998, pp A64.