E-commerce - Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Chapter 2: Literature review Page 44
but, rather, through the process of consistently delivering a superior customer
experience.
2.9 SUMMARY
And so it can be seen that technology and the behaviour of e-customers has
evolved. Recognising this at an early stage in the evolution of e-retailing,
Rowley (1996) suggests that e-retailers need to continuously enhance the
value of their digital online offering. This gives a direction for the research
that is to be done. In an interactive W/o-way world, it is the customer and not
the e-retailer, who decides with whom to interact, what to interact about, and
how to interact (Rowley, 1996). This requires that e-retailers acquire a good
knowledge of customer behaviour within such an environment and
understand their habits and preferences, in order to sell products and
services that meet customer needs. To this end, e-retailers have the
technology capabilities on their side, as the e-retail environment provides
them with an enormous amount of information they can use to enhance their
understanding of the customer. The more informed an e-retailer is about its
customer, the bigger the change in the dynamics of shopping process such
as convenience, 24-hour availability or competitive pricing. It is here that the
value of e-retailing is expected to be seen.
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