Abstract:

Business-to-consumer electronic commerce provides companies with access to larger markets, reduces operating costs and provides increased knowledge about customers (Douglas et al., 2003). In parallel, it provides customers with greater power to compare and evaluate online vendors. One consequence of this power is that consumers have increased expectations from online vendors regarding levels of service and less tolerance of errors (Bitner, 2001; Cox and Dale, 2001; Alzola and Robaina, 2005). Consequently, service quality has become a critical determinant of website success. Despite this fact, studies show that many consumers view the service quality delivered through websites as unsatisfactory (Lennon and Harris, 2002). It is therefore essential that online vendors understand the dimensions of service excellence that customers value as this insight is likely to increase the success of their marketing strategies.