E-commerce - Cape Peninsula University of Technology

Chapter 3: Research design and methodology Page 47
anticipated so as to design a questionnaire) and because they were few in
number. The interview sample was made up of seven e-commerce and e­
business professionals whose experiences are based upon work in South
Africa and the United States. The professional e-retail experience of the
respondents ranges from three to ten years. The respondents were required
to participate in a 45-minute semi-structured interview. The researcher had a
list of themes and questions to be covered. During the interview, the extent to
which the respondent understands the questions were determined
(Denscombe, 2003:167).
The objective of the interviews was to help reveal how e-retail businesses
ensure customer loyalty in the e-retail environment. Respondents interviewed
include;
Mr Yahya Patel- E-commerce Manager of Musica in Cape Town
Mr Mojeed Biobaku - Senior Systems Analyst for Woolworth Head office in
Cape Town
Mr Elred Lawrence - E-commerce Business Systems Manager for Pick 'n'
Pay Head office in Cape Town
Ms Jennifer Schreuder - E-commerce Executive for MegaShopper in Cape
Town
Mr Warien Moss - E-commerce Manager for Digital Planet in Cape Town
Mr Chike Nwoffiah - Executive Director for Oriki Theater in California, USA
Mrs Deffria Bass - Managing Director for T-Shirts for the Soul in California,
USA.
The interviewees maintained that the views expressed are from their own
personal capacity. The interviews conducted were a combination of face-to­
face and web-based interview. The interviews were recorded, transcribed
and analysed.
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