E-COMMERCE CUSTOMERS ARE FINDING SOME PITFALLS, LIKE LOUSY SERVICE AND BOTCHED ORDERS

In this season of exploding e-commerce, the downside of Internet sales is emerging as well.

As promising as this new medium is, kinks abound. Among the major gripes consumers have: lousy customer service, out-of-stock merchandise, botched orders and late deliveries. It's enough to drive many e-commerce shoppers out to the crowded mall they had hoped to avoid.

Some online merchants are so backed up with orders that their top executives have had to help in the warehouse. This despite most such merchants having dramatically upgraded their technology and built new distribution centers over the last year.

E-commerce is unquestionably a major growth engine for the American and world economy in the long term. In the meantime, however, the opportunities for traditional retailers, especially those who take the trouble to offer excellent customer service, are apparent to all.