Extending the experience construct : an examination of online grocery shopping

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.