Though 92 percent of ecommerce websites offer email as a customer-support option, only 41 percent of those sites acknowledge receipt of customers' messages with automated email responses, according to a new JupiterResearch report. The retail category results remained relatively consistent with previous years', but in other industries, such as finance and travel, auto-acknowledgement decreased significantly. Since 2000, the number of sites responding to emails within 24 hours continues to decrease, according to the report, titled "U.S. Customer Service & Support Metrics, December 2005."

Only 45 percent of sites resolved email inquiries within 24 hours; however, fully 39 percent of sites took three days or longer or did not respond at all. JupiterResearch points to two factors for such unresponsiveness: the continuing increase in email volume and broad failure among contact centers to invest in appropriate email handling technology.

"Failure to resolve requests via email is driving continued use of cost-intensive telephone work, negating any potential cost savings from handling inquiries via email," said David Schatsky, SVP of Research at JupiterResearch.