Importance-performance analysis of retail website service quality

This study intends to empirically explore the customer’s perceived ranking of the importance of a range of on-line services, and their perceptions of the retailers’ performance in delivering these services. An online questionnaire survey has been conducted to gather the data from respondents. The data was analysed using Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA). The findings suggest areas of e-service quality where retailers could improve, based on the customers’ perceptions of the retailers’ performance against the importance of some e-service quality features and/or services on offer. Consequently, this study highlights that retailers should take active steps to understand their customers’ requirements, before developing an online customer services strategy. From a practical perspective, retailers could also apply the questionnaire developed for this study to canvas the opinions of customers, to help identify areas in which their performance needs to be improved.

[1]  Minjoon Jun,et al.  Consumer Perception of E-Service Quality: From Internet Purchaser and Non-Purchaser Perspectives , 1970, Journal of Business Strategies.

[2]  John A. Martilla,et al.  Importance-Performance Analysis , 1977 .

[3]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  SERVQUAL: A multiple-item scale for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. , 1988 .

[4]  C. Ennew,et al.  Importance‐Performance Analysis and the Measurement of Service Quality , 1993 .

[5]  Joseph O. Rentz,et al.  A measure of service quality for retail stores: Scale development and validation , 1996 .

[6]  Shohreh A. Kaynama,et al.  A Proposal to Assess the Service Quality of Online Travel Agencies: An Exploratory Study , 2000 .

[7]  Tat Y. Choi,et al.  An importance-performance analysis of hotel selection factors in the Hong Kong hotel industry: a comparison of business and leisure travellers , 2000 .

[8]  Chang Liu,et al.  Exploring the factors associated with Web site success in the context of electronic commerce , 2000, Inf. Manag..

[9]  M. O'Neill,et al.  Quality evaluation in on‐line service environments: an application of the importance‐performance measurement technique , 2001 .

[10]  David J. Solomon,et al.  Conducting Web-based Surveys. , 2001 .

[11]  Noel Y. M. Siu,et al.  A measure of retail service quality , 2001 .

[12]  Richard T. Vidgen,et al.  An Evaluation of Cyber-Bookshops: The WebQual Method , 2001, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[13]  Anthony D. Miyazaki,et al.  Consumer Perceptions of Privacy and Security Risks for Online Shopping , 2001 .

[14]  J. Francis,et al.  Pirqual: a scale for measuring customer expectations and perceptions of quality in internet retailing , 2002 .

[15]  Barrie Dale,et al.  Key quality factors in Web site design and use: an examination , 2002 .

[16]  Shaohan Cai,et al.  Services quality dimensions of Internet retailing: an exploratory analysis , 2003 .

[17]  Jessica Santos.  E‐service quality: a model of virtual service quality dimensions , 2003 .

[18]  Janjaap Semeijn,et al.  E-service quality expectations: A case study , 2003 .

[19]  M. Gilly,et al.  eTailQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting etail quality , 2003 .

[20]  Martin O'Neill,et al.  Importance‐performance analysis: a useful tool for directing continuous quality improvement in higher education , 2004 .

[21]  Charles A. McMellon,et al.  Exploring the determinants of retail service quality on the Internet , 2004 .

[22]  Sandra Streukens,et al.  Comfort your online customer: quality, trust and loyalty on the internet , 2004 .

[23]  Zhilin Yang,et al.  Online service quality dimensions and their relationships with satisfaction: A content analysis of customer reviews of securities brokerage services , 2004 .

[24]  Joe E. Wheaton,et al.  Online Data Collection: Strategies for Research. , 2004 .

[25]  V. Zeithaml,et al.  E-S-QUAL A Multiple-Item Scale for Assessing Electronic Service Quality , 2004 .

[26]  Mei Cao,et al.  B2C e-commerce web site quality: an empirical examination , 2005, Ind. Manag. Data Syst..

[27]  Naveen Donthu,et al.  Developing a Scale to Measure the Perceived Quality of An Internet Shopping Site ( SITEQUAL ) , 2005 .

[28]  Pingjun Jiang,et al.  Customer intention to return online: price perception, attribute‐level performance, and satisfaction unfolding over time , 2005 .

[29]  E. Weiderpass,et al.  Feasibility of Using Web-based Questionnaires in Large Population-based Epidemiological Studies , 2005, European Journal of Epidemiology.

[30]  Zheng Zhou,et al.  Development and validation of an instrument to measure user perceived service quality of information presenting Web portals , 2005, Inf. Manag..

[31]  Hans H. Bauer,et al.  eTransQual: A Transaction Process-Based Approach for Capturing Service Quality in Online Shopping , 2006 .

[32]  Sean F. Ennis,et al.  Cross‐industry analysis of consumer assessments of internet retailers' service performances , 2006 .

[33]  C. Flavián,et al.  Perceived e‐service quality (PeSQ) , 2007 .

[34]  Richard T. Watson,et al.  WebQual: An Instrument for Consumer Evaluation of Web Sites , 2007, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[35]  J. Hair.  Multivariate data analysis : a global perspective , 2010 .

[36]  Vazifehdust Housein,et al.  CUSTOMER PERCEPTIONS OF E-SERVICE QUALITY IN ONLINE SHOPPING , 2012 .

[37]  C. Flavián,et al.  Perceived e-service quality ( PeSQ ) Measurement validation and effects on consumer satisfaction and web site loyalty , 2012 .