Wire GOMEZ ADVISORS' BROKER SCORECARD RANKS E*TRADE AS TOP ONLINE BROKERAGE BUSINESS/TECHNOLOGY EDITORS CONCORD, MASS.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JUNE 3, 1999-- LEADING ONLINE ADVISORY FIRM NOTES GROWING
------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONCORD, Mass.--(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.O) 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.N) and Charles Schwab (NYSE:SCH.N) 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.
-0-
*T
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
*T
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.
--30--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
KEYWORD: MASSACHUSETTS
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS COMED
INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET
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