Extending the experience construct: an examination of online grocery shopping

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to assess factors influencing customers’ online grocery shopping experiences, and it evaluates the central role of customer service and consumers’ responses to satisfying grocery shopping.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed-methods approach was used; linguistic inquiry and the word count (LIWC) method captured qualitative aspects of consumers’ grocery shopping experience, whereas partial least square-structure equation modeling tested hypotheses regarding antecedents to consumers’ overall online grocery shopping experience.

Findings

The PLS-based analysis confirmed the qualitative insights, establishing the significance of customer service, which accounted for 68% variance in the overall experience and 42% variance in customer satisfaction, along with other experience antecedents such as website, product and delivery.

Research limitations/implications

Future researchers could further analyze experience as a dynamic process focusing on consumer and retailer brand-focused constructs, specifically focusing on creating a holistic understanding of customer service that establishes coherence between retailers’ marketing values and their customer service.

Practical implications

Managers should acknowledge the importance of customer service in creating a satisfying customer experience, and they should respond to consumer concerns, resulting in enhanced brand-related experience.

Originality/value

Responding to the call for a better understanding of customer service, this study brings out the challenges online grocery shoppers are facing in terms of customer service and empirically establishes customer service as a key driver of customer experience, thereby extending the earlier work on customer service and online customer experience.

Citation

Singh, R. and Söderlund, M. (2020), "Extending the experience construct: an examination of online grocery shopping", European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 54 No. 10, pp. 2419-2446. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-06-2019-0536