Online Store Service Convenience, Customer Satisfaction and Behavioural Intentions: A Focus on Utilitarian Oriented Shoppers

Abstract

The paper investigates, using transaction cost theory, the concept of service convenience and its influence on utilitarian customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions to repurchase from an online store. Data used in the analysis was collected from utilitarian oriented online shoppers from Gauteng, South Africa using a structured questionnaire. According to the findings search, evaluation, order and possession convenience were identified as unique,reliable and valid dimensions of service convenience in the context of online shopping. The four dimensions were all found to exert significant direct influence on utilitarian customers’ level of satisfaction as well as on intentions to repurchase from specific online stores. The findings further showed that service convenience can be conceptualised as a second order factor made up of all the identified four dimensions and that when conceptualised this way the explanatory power of service convenience on both customersatisfaction and repurchase intentions is greatly enhanced. Additionally, the results show thatoverall satisfaction on the relationship between service convenience and behavioural intentions to repurchase from an online store plays a significant mediating role when service convenience is considered at the dimensional level but not at the overall level. The findings in this study validate the transaction cost theory in the context of online shopping and contribute to a better understanding of the concept of service convenience and its influence on utilitarian oriented online customers. The findings have wide managerial implications on use of convenience as a source of value creation for online store managers and these have been outlined in the paper.

Shoppers’ Perception of Retail Convenience in Online Shopping in Benin City, Nigeria

“…Similarly, Jiang, Yang and Jun (2013) found that online shoppers have a favorable perception of online shopping in Hong Kong. This finding is also supported by the study conducted in South Africa by Mpinganjira (2015) who found that online shoppers have a favorable perception of search and possession convenience. This study found that demographic variables (gender, age, education, occupation and income) do not have a significant relationship with shoppers' perception of retail convenience in online shopping.…”

Older Travelers’ E-Loyalty: The Roles of Service Convenience and Social Presence in Travel Websites

“…They found that service convenience was a significant antecedent of satisfaction with Internet use [22]. Mpinganjira [21] identified service convenience dimensions in the context of online stores and verified that an online store's service convenience influenced service satisfaction with a sample consisting of 127 online consumers: 88.8% were aged between 18 and 49, while 10.2% were more than 50 years old.…”

“…Convenience products should not require too much effort and time to compare and purchase [30] and pose low risks to customers [31]. Since service convenience reduces customers' time and energy expenditure [15], a number of scholars have examined the convenience in various fields, such as online stores [21], art museums [32], and commercial banks [33]. In the tourism field, although Chang et al [34] addressed convenience as a key factor driving customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry, identifying crucial factors of online customer convenience still remains an important issue for the tourism industry in the circumstance that the number of traditional agents is decreasing due to technological advances.…”

“…Since Copeland [14] initially proposed the convenience theory, scholars have suggested that there are distinctive and unique convenience dimensions in the service industry [15][16][17][18][19]. Although researchers have conducted extensive studies on online convenience, they mainly focused on younger adults or general users [20,21]. For example, Colwell et al [22] developed a multiple-item scale and five dimensions of service convenience in the mobile and Internet usage context.…”

Artırılmış Gerçeklik Teknolojisinin Pazarlamadaki Yeri

“…Bu bilgiye dayanarak firmalar seçtikleri pazarlama stratejisi ve konumlandırma tercihine uygun, hazcı tüketim alışveriş ortamı veya faydacı tüketim alışveriş ortamı yaratabilmektedir(Scarpi vd., 2014). Çevrimiçi perakende sektöründeki firmalar rekabetçi kalabilmek ve müşteri değerini artırabilmek için farklı ve etkili yollar arayışı içine girmektedirler(Mpinganjira, 2015). Özellikle perakende sektöründeki rekabet artışı, pazarlamacıları farklı mağaza düzenleri oluşturmaya motive etmektedir.…”