Gearing up for the holiday retail rush, shopping search provider BizRate.com announced its fifth annual Circle of Excellence Platinum awards. This year, 41 online retailers earned awards for their providing high levels of customer satisfaction.

All BizRate.com customer-certified merchants were considered for the awards. Retailers were judged on the response from actual customers who completed online BizRate.com surveys conducted at the point of sale or after product delivery.

Only retailers ranking in the top five percent of all certified merchants for survey response volume qualified for the awards. The surveys measure customer opinions about the shopping experience and retailers' post-transaction fulfillment performance between September 1, 20043 and August 31, 2004

Qualifying merchants received awards based upon their performance in the following seven customer satisfaction categories:

1. Overall satisfaction
2. Product selection
3. Ease of finding products
4. Repurchase intent
5. Product met expectations
6. On-time delivery
7. Customer support

The BizRate.com customer surveys rank merchant performance on a ten-point scale in each category and award winners must rank above the industry average in all categories. The industry averages range from 8.36 for "customer satisfaction" to 8.78 for "product met expectations."

Because the awards are based upon actual customer input over a one-year period, they recognize merchants, in particular, for providing consistently high customer satisfaction. A select group of merchants has been recognized all five years of the program including Campmor.com, Crutchfield, and Tower Hobbies. Several other retailers are four-time recipients.

"Online spending will keep growing as long as online retailers stay committed to providing the best customer service," said BizRate.com president and CEO Chuck Davis in a statement. "We are particularly proud of Platinum Award-winning merchants because, day in and day out, these merchants make it a priority to make every purchaser feel special. In return, they will reap the rewards this holiday season and beyond."