Antecedents of loyalty in an online retailing business

Abstract: Retailing industry is challenged by empowered customers, scattered markets and intensified competition. Online retailing has a unique opportunity to take a leading role in the global marketplace by providing location free, customer controlled, and information rich retail service. Customer experience with an online retailer includes multiple factors. It is crucial to determine what website functions and features should be emphasized to create a satisfactory experience. Understanding an effective functional feature of website and their combinations can result in superior customer experience, which in turns influences customer loyalty. Accordingly, having loyal customers is a competitive advantage and results in high revenue and returns. In other words, loyalty, in the retail industry, is influenced by multiple shopping experiences over time. Based on this motivation this thesis attempted to identify and test some derivers of atmospheric experimental experience, and explain how they contribute to customer loyalty in an online retailing business. This thesis is an outcome of empirical research. A theoretical model is tested and analyzed. It is based on 150 unique and randomly selected customers in UK. The model tests online experience on loyalty. Particularly, the impact of three theoretical factors i.e., “website design”, “customer service” and “privacy/ security” on atmospheric experimental experience has been analyzed in the first place. Secondly, this thesis studies the impact of atmospheric experimental experience on customer loyalty in an online retailing business. Results reveal that three factors of atmospheric experimental experience positively contribute to customer experience. Result confirms that experimental experience has a positive impact on customer loyalty in an online retailing business. One conclusion is that online retailers can offer a satisfactory experience to customers if they consider using the three factors previously mentioned. Findings are in congruence with earlier theory and can be helpful to online retailers. This thesis uses terms of online retailing and online business interchangeably.