“Customer satisfaction has taken a dramatic downturn . . . and the popularity of online e-commerce giants Amazon.com and eBay also took a fall, the American Customer Satisfaction Index said Tuesday,” reports a Money magazine story. The report from ACSI, which is run by the university of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, Amazon’s customer satisfaction fell 5 percent to an overall rating of 84, and “the world’s largest online retailer also lost its crown as the leader in the e-commerce score index.” Meanwhile: “Barnes & Noble‘s online unit gained 1 percent . . . to take the lead” at an overall rating of 87. “Amazon (is) selling everything from garden appliances and apparel to electronics and used books,” says Larry Freed, CEO of ForeSee Results. “But bigger isn’t always better from a customer’s viewpoint. Barnes and Noble has stayed true to its business model and product offering, which makes it easier to service demand well and sustain higher levels of customer satisfaction.”

• RELATED: Amazon head Jeff Bezos says the company’s new Amazon Prime program, which offers $79 memberships that allow for significant shipping discounts, “has attracted many more subscribers in its first few days than the company expected,” according to a wire report on the Dow Jones Wires. Bezos says it’s too early to tell if the program will be a success, “But he suggested it was off to a good start. The goal is to get the online retailer’s most frequent repeat customers to look at product purchases outside of the popular book, music and DVD categories, Bezos said.”