English companies may be investing more than ever in online marketing, but a new study presented by DMA, the Direct Marketing Association, suggests that many companies are finding it difficult to create online relationships with customers and, more importantly, that a of every five companies it loses sales because it does not correctly respond to the requests of its clients that they make through the website.

To carry out the study, the DMA researchers made requests for brochures or catalogs to 200 English companies from various sectors through their web pages. 19% never responded and if we move this to the real world they represent lost sales opportunities.

Of the 38% of the respondents, they sent an email and only 53% sent a personalized response. Many of the companies analyzed sent duplicate information, with errors in the address and with a presentation of poor quality.

As Sally Hollis, President of the DMA Response Management Board, comments, “Companies should read the conclusions of our report to serve as a warning. The Internet offers consumers a huge amount of possibilities and if they do not get an almost immediate response they will go to another company similar to the one that is ignoring them, losing sales. Companies must look back and focus again on offering good consumer service. ”

As announced by Google this week, the e-commerce sector in the UK is 100 million pounds a year and, increasingly, consumers make their purchases through the internet.