(Image Source: Foresee)

BY ADAM FALK

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

Traditionally, it’s been a two horse race between Amazon and Netflix in ForeSee’s e-retail customer satisfaction survey.

While Amazon has taken the top sport 14 straight times, the two companies have usually been within a point or two of each other. But after seven years of back and forth competition, 2011 saw the companies going in two separate directions. First the winner...

Amazon took home another gold, notching a score of 88 out of 100.

So fast shipping and a huge selection is the way to customber’s hearts? Then what did confusion in corporate direction and price increases earn Netflix?

The streaming company dropped 7 points in the rankings, down to a 79.

ForeSee isn’t pulling any punches in its report. In fact, the CEO, Larry Freed offered a biting critique of the company this year.

“Netflix totally misread its customer base and is paying the price, damaging its brand among both consumers and investors... Raising prices by 60% and splitting the baby into separate DVD and streaming services totally undermines Netflix’s cost and convenience advantages. Customer satisfaction is predictive, which means that Netflix’s financial woes may be just beginning.”

But GigaOm isn’t seeing it that way, reminding readers the survey is of the top companies in the industry. Big picture- Netflix is still among the best in the biz.

“Netflix’s customer satisfaction aside, the index of the top 40 Internet retailers was actually pretty good, with the average score for the group increasing to 79. So for now, Netflix is just average among the top companies in the survey.”

But business analysts are saying batten down the hatches-- Netflix is about to run into a big storm. Kay Plantes, an industry expert in business model innovation, says the smart money is on Amazon in the future.

“With Amazon and Netflix now in the same market space for on-line movie and TV show viewing, I know which stock I’d bet upon. In an e-commerce war, customer satisfaction is like the highest hill on the battleground, conferring welcomed advantages in the battles ahead.”

The study looks at a number of factors on each company’s website, including content, functionality, merchandise and prices. Netflix saw a drop in each category. The lowest scoring company in the survey? Overstock.com- down four points to 72.