The effect of e-service quality on customer's e-satisfaction in online apparel stores : Within the Swedish context

Abstract: In recent years, e-commerce has become an essential part of the global retail framework. The retail industry has undergone an essential conversion due to the rise of the Internet and the ongoing development of digitalization. The Internet is more easily accessible with a rapid increase globally, and the number of potential online buyers is gradually increasing. This accessibility of the Internet has become evident in Sweden, which has been ranked as one of the top three most digitalizing countries among the member states of the European Union. In the year 2020, sales in e-commerce increased sharply in Sweden. It has been assessed that the change in consumer behavior has led to the increased use of e-commerce, and this continuous change will proceed in the future. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine e-service quality in online apparel stores in Sweden using the E-S-QUAL model. In addition, this study investigates if each of the four dimensions in the E-S-QUAL model has an effect on customers’ e-satisfaction in online apparel stores. The research investigates how much each of the independent variables is affecting customers’ e-satisfaction. This will be researched using Swedish university students. The research follows a quantitative research design, and the data was based on the answers from an online questionnaire which resulted in 62 responses. Random- and snowball sampling was used to collect the data, and a survey research design was followed in the study. The data were analyzed using SPSS, where regression analysis was conducted to test the hypothesis. From the analysis, it was found that all of the four dimensions have an effect on customers’ e-satisfaction. However, the results show that the two dimensions efficiency and privacy have the highest impact on customers’ perception of e-service quality and thereby are affecting customers’ level of e-satisfaction the most.