StellaService

StellaService Inc. is a privately held American information and measurement company with headquarters in New York City, New York.[1] The company measures and rates the customer service performance of online companies in a process audited by global accounting and auditing firm KPMG. Founded in 2009, it produces both Stella Metrics (a mystery shopping platform) and Stella Connect (a customer feedback system).

StellaService
Private
IndustryCustomer Service
Founded2009 (2009)
New York City, New York, U.S.
FoundersJordan Leiser
John Ernsberger
Headquarters
New York City, New York, U.S.
ServicesStella Metrics
Stella Connect
Websitestellaservice.com

Company background

The company was founded in 2009 by Jordan Leiser and John Ernsberger, college roommates at Bucknell University, and incorporated in 2010.[2] Leiser serves as StellaService’s Chief Executive Officer and Ernsberger serves as the EVP of sales and service. In 2013 the company received $15 million from a series B round of financing led by Norwest Venture Partners.[3] As of that year the company had raised a total of $22.2 million in financing from investors including Battery Ventures, Consigliere Brand Capital, DFJ Gotham Ventures, RRE Ventures.[4] In 2015 StellaService raised an additional $15 million from Toba Capital and Novel TMT,[5] in a series C round led by Comcast Ventures.[6] The company is headquartered in New York City.[7]

Software

Stella Metrics

The company launched Stella Metrics in February 2013, a software as a service offering that syndicates the company’s proprietary data to online retailers.[8] The company focuses on measuring the customer service performance of retail and eCommerce companies. This is done through hiring a few hundred shoppers to make purchases or returns at companies in the US or UK, and then measuring the quality of delivery, refund speed, and response times via phone or email. Google also licenses StellaService data and utilizes it in the star rating system used on Google AdWords.[5] In addition to this, Stella Metrics has also been integrated into the Google Merchant Profile system.[7]

Each month the company "stress-tests" about three hundred metrics for client companies for approximately twenty thousand Internet transactions. Clients can either view this data about themselves or their competitors.[9] The program has been referred to as a mystery shopping service.[10] StellaService has used this data to release reports on trends on US and UK customer service as well, such as the results of increases in free shipping practices[11] the use and effectiveness of social media as a customer service platform,[12] shipping times[13] and the amount of late packages during high volume shipping periods like holiday seasons,[14] and call waiting times during periods of high call volume.[15] They also publicly rate companies according to their findings.[16]

Stella Connect

The company produced Stella Connect in 2015,[17] which sends customers feedback request emails including personal information about the representative they were interacting with, including a photo and list of hobbies. The customer rates reps according to a five star system, and provides customers with the option of encouraging the company to provide the rep with small gifts in exchange for any high rated customer service,[1] which can range from lunch to gift cards, or other items of the customer's choice.[18] This feedback is sent directly to the customer rep that has been rated, and to a real-time dashboard where management can view employee performance on a rolling basis.[17] The response rate of customers has been averaged at 40-50%.[19]

Clients and recognition

As of 2011 the websites displaying the StellaService Seal include Zappos.com, Diapers.com and 1-800-Flowers.com.[20] Other clients include Walmart and Abercrombie & Fitch.[21] In May 2013, the company announced a multi-year agreement with Google Inc.[22] StellaService ratings and data are licensed by Google in multiple offerings, including the Google Trusted Stores program. In March 2013, the company received a grant of $250,000 from the New York City Economic Development Corporation to relocate and hire in Manhattan’s Financial District as part of the Take the H.E.L.M. program.[23]

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References
  1. Jason Del Rey (February 10, 2016). "A Customer Satisfaction Tool That Actually Works? Jet.com Thinks It's Found One". Recode.
  2. Creamer, Matthew (March 29, 2011) “StellaService Strives to Give E-tailers Credibility They Desire”. Advertising Age.
  3. Bill Briggs (July 21, 2015). "StellaService raises $15 million". Internet Retailer.
  4. Stangel, Luke (May 30, 2013) “Google Rolling Out E-Commerce Customer Service Ratings”. Silicon Valley Business Journal.
  5. Jason Del Rey (July 15, 2015). "StellaService, the Nielsen for Customer Service, Raises Another $15 Million". Recode.
  6. Elliot Volkman (July 20, 2015). "StellaService Raises $15M to Meet Demand for Customer Service Insights". Tech.co.
  7. Eilene Zimmerman (June 3, 2014). "A Start-up That Helps Businesses Assess Customer Service". New York Times.
  8. Mattioli, Dana (February 27, 2013) “Data Firm StellaService Raises Funding”. Wall Street Journal.
  9. Clare O'Connor (September 4, 2013). "The Nielsen Of Amazon Orders? Data Startup StellaService Rates E-Commerce, And Google Wants In". Forbes.
  10. Laura Stevens (April 27, 2016). "'Free' Shipping Crowds Out Small Retailers". Wall Street Journal.
  11. Paul Page (April 28, 2016). "Today's Top Supply Chain and Logistics News From WSJ". Wall Street Journal.
  12. Mitch Lipka (June 1, 2012). "Customer Service Via Twitter? Some Companies Are On It, Others Not So Much". Time Magazine.
  13. Kate Ashford (January 30, 2016). "Amazon Shipping Has Gotten Slower For Non-Prime Members". Forbes.
  14. Krystina Gustafson (December 14, 2015). "Retailers push shipping deadlines later despite delays". CNBC.
  15. Krystina Gustafson (January 8, 2014). "Target shoppers faced long waits post-security breach". CNBC.
  16. Mikey Campbell (July 30, 2014). "Apple order fulfillment ranks first among online retailers with average delivery time of 2.3 days in June". Apple Insider.
  17. Dan Berthiaume (February 11, 2016). "Jet puts customer engagement into high gear". Chain Storage.
  18. Ina Steiner (February 11, 2016). "StellaService Puts Face to Ecommerce Customer Service". eCommerce Bytes.
  19. Susan Reda (May 2016). "Service with an Actual Smile". Stores Magazine.
  20. Creamer, Matthew (March 29, 2011) “StellaService Strives to Give E-tailers Credibility They Desire”. Advertising Age.
  21. Ian P. Murphy (July 17, 2015). "StellaService scores $15M in venture capital". Retail Dive.
  22. Barr, Alastair (May 29, 2013) “Google to License retailer ratings from STELLAService”. Reuters.com
  23. Rosenbaum, Steven (March 14, 2013) “Lower Manhattan Sparks Startup Competition”. Forbes.com.
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