E-commerce - Cape Peninsula University of Technology

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ABSTRACT
Where customers have freedom of choice, their level of satisfaction will
determine if they are loyal, long-term and profitable customers. If customers
are not satisfied they will take their business elsewhere.
The increase in the level of satisfaction in key element areas would increase
overall customer satisfaction and increase customers' future behaviours such
as purchasing on the Internet and recommending the e-retail websites to
others.
This thesis also explains in the previous chapters that early adopters of e­
retailing exhibited more of the elements of service transactions than goods
transactions and that these elements best explain the e-retailer-consumer
relationship. Creating the trust between a customer and its service provider
{e-retailer} is one of the key factors in ensuring customer loyalty and
retention. Other challenges that were discussed include controlling customer
data, integrating on-offline orders, delivering goods cost effectively and
handling of returns. Strategies e-retail businesses implement and use in
improving product and service quality, gain market share and maintain
greater customer loyalty were discussed in this research.
If the e-retail businesses can continue to improve consumers' satisfaction
they will be rewarded with continued improvement in overall customer
satisfaction, customer loyalty and retention and increase profitability. While
the Internet certainly poses new challenges for e-retailers, and offers them
invaluable new tools, a spate of new research suggests that there is no
reason for traditional retailers to consider themselves doomed. The big
question is: how does Internet technology assist e-retail businesses to create
loyal e-customers?