• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, May 11, 2011

When it comes to consistently pleasing its customers, Amazon squeaked into first place among the 100 largest online retailers, closely followed by Netflix, Avon, QVC and Newegg.

But the big winner, according to the rankings from ForeSee Results, is online retailing overall: Customer satisfaction with e-retail remains at an all-time high of 78 on the study's 100-point scale. In fact, almost one-third of the e-retailers included in the study scored an 80 or above, which is usually the threshold for top performers. And not one company fell below 70. Even two years ago, 15% performed at those poorer rates.

Netflix drops two points to 85, allowing Amazon -- unchanged at 86 -- to come in first. BassPro.com, HSN.com, Shutterfly.com, Scholastic. com and Vitacost.com also landed in the top 10 for the year. And the list of big gainers includes Newegg, Shutterfly, Staples, Peapod, Lowes, Macys.com, and Hayneedle, each climbing three points.

Customer satisfaction scores matter, says ForeSee, because they are so closely linked to sales. "Highly-satisfied visitors to retail Web sites say they are 68% more likely to purchase online, 46% more likely to purchase offline, and 61% more likely to purchase from that retailer next time they're in the market for a similar product," this year's survey found. And they are also more likely to recommend the website to others.

"These findings seem to indicate that we may need to raise the bar for what is considered an "excellent" score," the report says. "This study reflects only satisfaction with the top 100 e-retailers. Since satisfaction predicts revenues, it makes sense that many of the retailers in the top 100 would have superior satisfaction levels: providing a satisfying online experience helped them get in the top 100 in the first place.

"Research we've conducted over the last two years shows that as the recession ends and the successful retailers rebound, smaller retailers are suffering, and the satisfaction gap between the best and the worst is widening. So while it's good news that the Top 100 e-tailers are doing so well, everyone else will have to work very hard to compete."