Websites are not just for transactions anymore. Increasingly, consumer and business customers and partners expect websites to be far more than a goods-ordering service. They expect to be able to communicate with other customers or partners, give feedback on products and have direct e-mail links to senior executives within the organisation.

This is part of a major trend towards e-customer self-service (CSS), with customers expecting rising levels of empowerment.

To cope, suppliers are having to change their attitudes towards their customers. "CSS is the logical step but many companies are finding the transition hard," says Steve Naylor, European marketing vice-president at Tower Technology, a CSS systems provider.

CSS comes from the same information management roots as customer relationship management (CRM), but with the boot on the other foot. It shifts the emphasis of the transaction from the vending company to the customer, and website effectiveness is increasingly viewed from the perspective of the end user.

"While CRM helps suppliers identify opportunities, CSS opens up all kinds of facilities and information to the customer. A true self-service environment captures all kinds of information and arranges it in a form which makes it easy for customers to retrieve, search and initiate their own activity," says Mr Naylor.

This includes being able to search a customer database for similar customers, for example, and being able to contact them to discuss the vendor, its product or service.

Teresa Knight, eCustomer manager with KPMG Consulting, agrees that increasing customer empowerment is the way forward. "All organisations want to effectively select, attract, retain and grow their customers, but the e-world requires a different degree of openness than traditional sales and business channels," she says.

The interactive qualities of the internet mean that customers are becoming more familiar with the new empowered ways of initiating transactions and doing business.

"Customers are in the driving seat now," Ms Knight says. "Furthermore, they expect the same performance and facilities from all sales channels, so once something is available electronically it has to be available in all established channels...."

There are two aspects which have to be changed to meet the new expectations of customers. First, the website and its underlying technology. Second, the organisation, which frequently needs to undergo radical cultural and attitudinal growth.

According to Ms Knight: "The technology which is driving change in customer behaviour and expectations of power and control will also enable companies to respond effectively and sustainably. However, the changes which are necessary to the business model are often harder to define and implement."

According to a recent KPMG report, Customer Management-who manages whom?, the best first step is to look at the relationship through the eyes of the customer. According to the report: "Customers expect consistency but don't expect to give loyalty." They are resistant to the idea of unsolicited contact but expect to be able to contact other customers.

The fear of the formation of ad hoc customer groups, alliances and pressure groups is often uppermost in the minds of most companies contemplating higher levels of CSS. "A mature openness and pragmatism is invariably part of the culture in a company in which CSS is effectively employed," says Mr Naylor.

Tulin Pledger, European marketing director with Redwood Software, a CSS software provider, adds: "Throwing open your doors and allowing customers, suppliers and partners to interact is admirable in theory, but many companies are ill-prepared for the ramifications."

Apart from the technical issues, there are many procedural and cultural aspects which have to be dealt with. "To achieve successful CSS, companies must not leapfrog the crucial early stages of basic back- and front-office technical integration, and process change and planning to decide exactly what information they are going to allow their customers access to," says Ms Pledger.

Those who have moved to higher levels of CSS report greater customer satisfaction but also say that the need for voice and human contact is never replaced. David Bishop, managing director of Kingston Call Centres, which aims to empower its web users, says: "No matter how savvy the user becomes or how much power they have to surf the website or source their own information, certain transactions still need live assistance."

In turn, this means that the telephone support staff need to have higher levels of skills as the queries they have to deal with become more complex and less routine. An efficient FAQ area of the company website is a standard part of CSS, taking care of routine queries and problems.

Tim Walker, senior manager for financial services and CRM technologies at Deloitte Consulting, says CSS technology can radically change the relationship between customers and vendors because an empowered customer is more likely to demonstrate loyalty.

CSS will also evolve and become the norm. "CSS is all about web and e-commerce technology which offers links for customers. They should be offered buttons which give them links to purchase and order systems, accounting systems, stock management systems and field support and maintenance management systems," says Mr Walker.

Additionally, he says, customers should be offered links to third party organisations such as information providers and other suppliers, or partners of the original supplier.

"They should also be able to connect with analysis systems as well as internal marketing departments and, crucially, to other external customers." The benefit of CSS, he says, is a more satisfied customer and a supplier which knows more about its customer base, enabling more effective CRM.

"As e-customers' expectation levels rise, companies have to adapt to permit greater inspection by their customers and partners. For some companies it will be a natural step, for others it will be a difficult path."

Whichever, it is certainly the way e-commerce will evolve, Mr Walker believes. "Those companies which are open and flexible, both technically and organisationally, are the ones which will win."