The following article ranks on-line brokers in various areas.
Does anyone have insight into why Waterhouse doesn't show up anywhere?
Stuart.
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Gomez Advisors' Broker Scorecard Ranks E*TRADE as Top Online Brokerage
CONCORD, MASS. (June 3) BUSINESS WIRE -June 3, 1999--
Leading Online Advisory Firm Notes Growing Importance
of Customer Service and Reliability
In its quarterly Internet Broker Scorecard for the summer of 1999,
Gomez Advisors, Inc. ranked E*TRADE (NASDAQ:EGRP) as the top overall
online brokerage company.
Gomez Advisors, the leading online provider of objective e-commerce
research and analysis also ranked NATIONAL DISCOUNT BROKERS (NYSE:NDB)
and Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCH) in second and third place, respectively,
out of 53 brokerage companies that met the eligibility requirements.
"In this quarter, we have seen a defined shift in the online brokerage
market," explained Julio Gomez, chairman and founder of Gomez Advisors.
"Customers are putting the pressure on the online brokers to improve
their service and upgrade their systems. Brokers who have responded by
making changes have gone up in the rankings; those who chose the status
quo have dropped dramatically."
E*TRADE regained the overall number one ranking (which it had held
twice previously in the third and fourth quarters of 1998) from
DLJdirect (which fell to fourth position overall) largely because of
E*TRADE's increased attention towards multi-tiered customer service
including life event planning tools, institutional research, tax lot
accounting, NASDAQ Level II quotes and price alerts.
E*TRADE was ranked first among serious investors and one-stop
shoppers, two of the main investor profile areas evaluated by Gomez
Advisors. Additionally, E*TRADE also ranked first in relationship
services and ease of use, two of the five key evaluation categories
Gomez Advisors reviews.
According to Gomez, the E*TRADE site received high marks because it
provides a simple and straightforward planning and educational
experience for traders and the research contained there helps investors
to reach their goals. Increased Customer Focus Results in Big Internet
Broker Scorecard Gains
The most notable improvement during the quarter came from NATIONAL
DISCOUNT BROKERS which climbed from the 19th spot overall to number two
for the ranking period. The company posted top five rankings in three
of the four profile areas, including emerging as number five among
hyper-active traders, climbing from number 19 to number five among
serious investors, and moving up from the 13th spot to number four
among life goal planners.
Finishing in the number three overall position was Charles Schwab,
which climbed two spots from the last quarter. According to Gomez, the
improved rankings for Charles Schwab can be directly attributed to the
company's new and better integrated products that it is offering to
customers. Traditional Bank Makes First Appearance on Internet Broker
Scorecard
In a likely trend towards traditional banks crossing into more defined
brokerage services, Banc One, the product of a merger with First
National Bank of Chicago, has made the first appearance ever by a bank
in the top 20 rankings by placing 15th. Banc One also received high
marks in the one-stop shopper category, where they moved from 18th
place to second place.
The Gomez Internet Broker Scorecard objectively measures broker
performance and excellence in providing online purchasing services. The
ranking system evaluates more than 150 criteria, which are weighted for
importance. The data is then broken out into five key areas including
ease of use, customer confidence, on-site resources, relationship
services and overall cost.
Top Ten Overall Brokers
(included with their overall scores)
E*TRADE 7.52
NATIONAL DISCOUNT BROKERS 7.35
Charles Schwab 7.31
DLJdirect 7.19
Discover Brokerage 7.04
A.B. Watley 6.87
Datek 6.77
SURETRADE 6.66
Quick & Reilly 6.49
Fidelity 6.47
Investor Profile
(includes top three brokers by profile area and their scores)
Hyper-active Trader
Datek 7.65
SURETRADE 7.14
A.B. Watley 7.12
Serious Investor
E*TRADE 7.34
Charles Schwab 7.28
DLJdirect 6.99
Life Goal Planner
Charles Schwab 7.99
DLJdirect 7.66
E*TRADE 7.59
One-Stop Shopper
Charles Schwab 7.65
Banc One 7.36
Fidelity 7.25
Broker Category
Customer Confidence
Charles Schwab 8.78
Discover Brokerage 8.24
DLJdirect 8.15
Ease of Use
E*TRADE 8.82
DLJdirect 8.38
NATIONAL DISCOUNT BROKERS 7.83
Overall Cost
Brown 10.00
SURETRADE 9.96
TRADINGDIRECT 9.75
FIRSTRADE 9.75
About Gomez Advisors, Inc.
Gomez.com is a subsidiary of Gomez Advisors, Inc., the recognized
online leader in providing consumer and business-based e-commerce
research, tools and analysis to empower consumers to make informed
online purchasing decisions. The Gomez.com site has grown into a
premier online hub for both consumers and businesses to evaluate online
service and product providers through nationally recognized Internet
Scorecards that rank the performance and quality of online service
offerings for selected industries including brokerage firms, banks,
travel agents, auctions and booksellers.
Gomez Advisors also features GomezPro, a subscriber-based e-commerce
intelligence platform. GomezPro features foremost industry experts
offering detailed, proprietary research and analysis of e-commerce
trends, the current competitive environment couple with detailed
consumer behavior and real-time data tools to enable businesses to
better attract and retain Internet consumers.
The Gomez website at www.gomez.com provides e-commerce industry news
and analysis and Internet Scorecards tracking a variety of industries.
The Internet Broker Scorecard is also available and can be accessed on
AOL through the AOL Keyword search "Gomez".
Gomez.com, Gomez Advisors, Scorecard, and GomezPro are registered
trademarks of Gomez Advisors, Inc. All other products and brand names
are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Editor's Note: Gomez AOL site and Broker Scorecard screen grabs are
available upon request.
-0- nmb/ny*
CONTACT: The Leavitt/Bell Group, Inc.
Linda Leavitt Bell/Susan Whyte Simon
626/564-9500 Ext. 21 or 24
Lbell@lbgcomm.com
or
Gomez Advisors, Inc.
Karen Lechner, 978/287-0095
Klechner@gomez.com |
