Amazon, Kohls, Top for Customer Service

WASHINGTON (TheStreet) -- You can never underestimate the power of customer service -- a truism that makes the latest study from the National Retail Federation and American Express one for investors to make note of.

The study, which was conducted by BIGresearch, asked 8,526 respondents which retailer provides the best customer service. Amazon(AMZN Quote), Kohl's(KSS Quote) and Nordstrom(JWN Quote) -- among the top outperformers in their respective sectors -- not surprisingly ranked among the top 10.

Rounding out the top 10 are J.C. Penney(JCP Quote), Coldwater Creek(CWTR Quote), HSN, Lands' End, LL Bean, Overstock.com(OSTK Quote), QVC and Zappos, which was recently purchased by Amazon. There are 11 on the list because two were tied.

It's worth noting that seven of the 11 companies do not have retail stores, showing just how important direct-to-consumer selling has become.

Those retailers represent some of the strongest in their sectors. Last week Kohl's, for example, posted a 20% jump in its third-quarter profit, as same-store sales grew 2.4%. The department store is one of the few retailers to actually see positive sales.