Sustaining customer loyalty of fresh food e-tailers: an empirical study in China

Abstract

PurposeWith the rapid development of fresh food e-commerce, sustaining customer loyalty is becoming critical for fresh food e-tailers (FFE) to be competitive. This study aims to investigate how to sustain customer loyalty of FFE in China.Design/methodology/approachA comprehensive literature review leads to the development of a conceptual model using the American customer satisfaction index (ACSI). This model is then tested and validated through structural equation modelling (SEM) of the survey data in China.FindingsThe study reveals that trust and perceived product risk significantly affect customer loyalty. It states that trust is significantly influenced by customer satisfaction and perceived product risk. Furthermore, the study shows that perceived risk of online shopping does not significantly influence customer trust and loyalty.Originality/valueThis study is the first in China for exploring how to sustain customer loyalty of FFE. The findings are significant for FFE to develop customer loyalty by formulating appropriate policies and strategies.

The Rise of Skywalker: The Critical Vehemence of Customer Loyalty inside the E-commerce Platform

“…Customer loyalty is the decision of a customer voluntarily to subscribe into a certain brand of product or service for a long time [16]. In addition, Iglesias, Markovic [5] explain that the customer loyalty is also defined as a customer's commitment on any particular product or service.…”

Price strategy of community fresh food e-commerce considering the heterogeneous needs of consumers and fresh quality transparency

“…Strong consumer awareness of food safety can promote mutual cooperation among supply chain members, strengthen cold chain investment, and realize the improvement of supply chain members' profits [11,32,[35][36][37]. Research also suggests that enhancing consumer trust enhances their willingness to purchase fresh food [3]. Consumers primarily obtain information about fresh food quality through introductions from retailers or platforms, often conveyed through images, videos, and brief textual descriptions.…”

“…The setting parameters are as follows: 𝜑 = 0.9, 𝑎 1 = 0.5, 𝑎 2 = 0.4, 𝑏 1 = 𝑏 2 = 0.2, 𝜃 = 0.1, 𝑔 = 0.3, 𝐿 = 0.6, and 𝑚 = 2, 𝑐 ∈ [0. 1,3]. The relationship between the FQT and the optimal pricing and maximum profit of community fresh retailers is shown in Figure 7.…”

“…The academic community has conducted extensive researches on the development of fresh food e-commerce. The primary areas of fresh food e-commerce revolve around cold chain logistics for fresh food, the preservation efforts by members of the fresh food supply chain, and the factors influencing consumers' online purchase of fresh food [1][2][3][4][5][6], especially in the field of community fresh food e-commerce.…”

“…Due to numerous food safety issues in recent years, community fresh food consumers have low trust in the quality of fresh food products sold by retailers. Therefore, scholars have conducted extensive research to address the issue of consumer trust [3], that for example, by using blockchain technology for traceability of fresh food products was order to gain the consumer trust [10,[12][13][14][15]. Additionally, researchers have studied the technologies for assessing fresh food quality, including the molecular detection and the intelligent packaging [16][17][18].…”