L.L.Bean Takes Top Spot for Customer Service

L.L.Bean has done it again. For the third time this year, the Freeport, Maine-based apparel and outdoor gear retailer has topped the customer service charts. According to StellaService, a customer service benchmarking company, L.L.Bean was rated in the top 25 in all categories, earning the top spot for best overall customer service in July 2014.

StellaService ranks 138 retailers by a daily evaluation in customer care channels that's compiled and reviewed at the end of each month. In July, L.L.Bean ranked 12th in email, 16th in shipping, seventh in chat, sixth in returns and sixth in phone. It was L.L.Bean's consistency across all the channels that helped the retailer get the top spot.

"Many retailers choose to sacrifice performance in one area to excel at another," said Kevon Hills, StellaService's vice president of research, in a company blog post yesterday. "L.L.Bean takes a holistic approach to service and it truly strives to be the best in every service area."

L.L.Bean's improvement in both shipping and chat helped it beat out June's overall service leader, J.Crew. Rounding out the top five in July's rankings were Mr. Porter, Net-a-Porter, Revzilla and Ralph Lauren, respectively.

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