Customer satisfaction with the largest online retailers rose this year, with Amazon coming out on top, according to ForeSee Results' annual report on holiday shoppers. The E-Retail Satisfaction Index (U.S. Holiday Edition) surged 7 percent to 79 on the Index's 100-point scale, a new all-time high. Amazon.com scored highest with an 87, improving 4% since last year.

Eleven e-retailers scored over 80 (generally considered the threshold for excellence in studies using this methodology), and none scored below 70. Websites for Macys, SonyStyle, The Gap, The Home Shopping Network and Overstock.com had the greatest increases in satisfaction year over year, with all five registering increases of 10 percent or more. Amazon.com was the only website that scored an 87, the highest score ForeSee has ever recorded for an online company; a score of 80 is considered the threshold of excellence in studies using this methodology.

Some of the interesting data points from E-Retail Satisfaction Index include the following:

• Amazon.com rose 3.6% to 87
• Newegg.com rose 3.8% to 81
• Costco Wholesale Corp. rose 9.7% to 79
• Walmart.com rose 1.3 to 79
• Zappos.com rose 5.3% to 79
• Buy.com rose 6% to 76
• Overstock.com rose 10.1% to 76

The fifth annual holiday online satisfaction report was based on a survey of over 10,000 visitors to the top 40 e-retail websites according to sales revenue as reported by Internet Retailer's Top 500 Guide.

The report from ForeSee Results includes an analysis of which website elements would have the most impact on overall satisfaction if improved. For most companies, improving price (either actual prices or consumers' perceptions of price) topped merchandise and functionality as a customer priority, though priorities differ from company to company.

"It's no surprise that price is priority this year. It's a reflection of these difficult economic times," said Kevin Ertell, Vice President of Retail Strategy at ForeSee Results. "But simply cutting prices isn't necessarily a business model for success, so prioritizing website improvements that customers value most is an absolute necessity."

ForeSee Results says research quantifies that when compared to less satisfied online shoppers, highly satisfied shoppers are 65% more likely to purchase online, 44% more likely to purchase offline, 70% more likely to recommend, and 49% more likely to return.