Would you spend thousands of dollars to build a store and not provide any customer service?

That's exactly what's happening at many online retailers. And customers are heading for their competitors just a click away.

A gap remains between online and traditional customer service at most companies, according to a major national report released last week.

While more and more people are choosing to purchase online, many companies still don't understand how poor online customer service can destroy the customer experience.

The Customer Respect Group found that customer service still falls far below what customers can get when they shop in a store or over the phone.

The study found:

• 45% of companies provided no information how quickly they would follow up on a customer inquiry received over email
• 12% of companies didn't respond at all to customer inquiries sent over email, and
• 25% responded only partially to customer inquiries sent over email

One common practice that annoyed customers the most are the generic "automatic responses" that seem to get them no where.

Retailers listen up - while the Internet does provide powerful tools to create efficiencies in your customer service organization - you can't take the "people" out of the process.

Don't forget what you already know. Your online customer service should be a mirror of your offline customer service.

What your customers want is simple.

When they have a problem or a question, they want to know someone is there to help. So folks, read and answer your customer emails. Your customers are trying to talk to you.