Sample Dissertation - 3: Business Publishing

Sample Dissertation - 3
LS
Business
Publishing
LS
Education
Group
Please note that the dissertation below is an example of a typical detailed research
dissertation. For the Undergraduate Major Project module candidates are
expected to utilise only 10000 words for their research dissertations.
For more details you are advised to refer to the Module Guide
document which is made available under the Assignment Question of the Module
Assessment section of the IMSS.
This is a sample pass answer for the December 2013

assessment. Extracting or copying any part of this answer
is strictly prohibited.
ii
ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY
UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR PROJECT
Analysis of impact of online retailing service quality on customer satisfaction:

a case study of ABC SUPERMARKETS
iii
December 2, 12, 2013
iv
Abstract
We have witnessed an extensive growth of internet based services in twentieth century, from
multi-organizations to small merchant that are implementing online services. Providing
quality e-service is the major challenging concern for online retail delivery channel which is
the important for customer purchasing decision and their satisfaction. This study will analyse
the impact of online retailing service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS on
customer satisfaction. The study started with the review of earlier literature to reveal the
significant service quality factors that influence customer satisfaction and to concentrate on
other study area. Five e-service quality dimensions of online shopping or purchasing were
investigated with a view to exploring the dominant factors of service quality and customer
satisfaction. Researcher applied deductive research approach and quantitative research
strategy to get better understanding of the research. Non probabilistic convenience sampling
is for obtaining relevant data without giving extensive effort. Data is analyzed and presented
using SPSS windows software. To conduct this research, a total number of 100 samples are
used. Among the 100 respondents, 21 were not used because they were incomplete. Finally,
the discussion and conclusion were presented by illustrating the finding of research
questions answers. Here, the e-service quality factors i.e., efficiency, privacy, reliability,
fulfilment, and responsiveness is found to be the core online service quality factors in ABC
SUPERMARKETS .
Keywords: Online retailer, Online shopping, Service quality, Online service quality,
Customer satisfaction, ABC SUPERMARKETS .
Contents
Signed Statement ...........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Acknowledgement .........................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... v
1
Chapter One: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1

1.1
Background ...................................................................................................................... 1
1.2
Case Company Overview: ABC SUPERMARKETS ..................................................... 3
1.3
Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 3
1.4
Aims of the Study ............................................................................................................. 5
1.5
Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................... 5
1.6
Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 5
1.7
The Structure of the Study ............................................................................................... 5
1.8
1.6 Conclusion:................................................................................................................. 6
Chapter Two: Literature review .............................................................................................. 7

2.1
Definition & Characteristics of Services .......................................................................... 7
2.2
Online Retailing Services ................................................................................................. 7
2.3
Tools of Measuring Online Service Quality .................................................................... 8
2.3.1
SERVQUAL ............................................................................................................. 8
2.3.2
E-SERVQUAL ......................................................................................................... 9
2.4
E-S-Qual ......................................................................................................................... 10
2.5
Customer Satisfaction & Online Service Quality .......................................................... 10
2.6
Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................. 11
2.7
Hypothesis: ..................................................................................................................... 13
Chapter Three: Methodology................................................................................................. 14

3.1
Research Philosophy ...................................................................................................... 14

Positivism & Interprevitism ........................................................................................... 14
Justification of Positivism .............................................................................................. 14
3.2
Research Approach ........................................................................................................ 15
3.3
Research Strategy ........................................................................................................... 15

vi
3.4
Data collection Techniques ............................................................................................ 16
3.5
Data Analysis Procedure ................................................................................................ 18
3.6
Ethical Consideration ..................................................................................................... 19
3.7
Data Quality ................................................................................................................... 19
3.8
Limitation ....................................................................................................................... 19
Chapter Four: Results: ........................................................................................................... 20

4.1
Cronbachs Alpha:.......................................................................................................... 20
4.2
Pearson correlation ......................................................................................................... 22
4.3
Hypothesis testing .......................................................................................................... 24
4.4
Regression Analysis: ...................................................................................................... 25
Chapter Five: Analysis and interpretation ............................................................................. 27
Chapter six: Conclusion, recommendation and further research scope................................. 30
6.1
Conclusion:..................................................................................................................... 30
6.2
Recommendation............................................................................................................ 30
6.3
Scope of further research: .............................................................................................. 31
References: ............................................................................................................................ 32
Appendix 1: Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 35
List of tables and figures
Table 1: Structure of the Study according to the Chapter ............................................................... 5

Table 2: SERVQUAL Dimensions ................................................................................................. 9
Figure 1: Relationship between E-Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction based on E
SERVQUAL. ................................................................................................................................ 12
Table 3: E-Servqual Dimensions .................................................................................................. 12
Figure 2: Sampling Technique Classification ............................................................................... 16
Table 4: Cronbachs Alpha (CA) and Mean average.................................................................... 21
Table 5: Pearson Correlations ....................................................................................................... 22
vii
Table 6: Model summary for regression between overall customer satisfaction and
independent variables.................................................................................................................... 25
Table 7: Regression results for impact of online customer service quality on customer
satisfaction .................................................................................................................................... 25
viii
Chapter One: Introduction
1.1 Background
Mr. Jason is a service holder. He got three children. He has to work hard in office and fails to
manage time for family. He spends busy days all over the week and cant manage time to go
for shopping and go on recreational places with the family. He finds it difficult to manage
time to go to stores and buy necessary things for himself and for the family. It would be great
if he had found any solution to this problem as it is almost impossible to go on without
having necessary things.
Online stores appeared to be the solutions to the problems faced by the busy people like Mr.
Jason. They are very busy and they cant manage to go to markets and choose their desired
goods. So online shopping offers them the opportunity of choosing their desired goods and
buys them instantly. Customers dont need to worry about getting the products as online
stores offer home delivery service. Some of them offer free home delivery service for specific
regions.
The number of people purchasing online is very huge all over the world. The number is high
in developed countries as those people have better access to internet and online banking.
Research shows that revenue from internet is 4.6 billion which has been increasing steadily
(Minitel report 2011). Availability of such technologies made online shopping more
preferable. Online retailers have to go deeper to understand the reason behind peoples
interest in online shopping. Customers are busy and have less time to go for shopping. The
concept of online shopping has made things easier. New mobile applications are developed to
make shopping experience easier which is available in every mobile OS platform.
Though online shopping sounds very smart and time saving, some customers dont prefer
online shopping because of the risk associated with it. As online stores are paid by credit
cards, there is a possibility that the credit cards and bank account of the customers will be
hacked. Strong and save online payment systems are present, but hackers develop new ways
of bluffing safety systems. Online security breakdown of SONY made the customers
concerned about the safety issues regarding credit card where personal information of almost
77 million people was hacked from the server of SONY (The Guardian 2011). Number of
such examples is remarkable. So it is really tough to convince the conservative customers
about the safety of online shopping.
1
Increase in the number of internet users means that the number of prospective customers of
online shopping is also increasing (Morganosky 2011). Along with the broadband internet
facility, mobile internet service is very popular as people move with their smartphones and
can do almost everything using that small device using internet (Oppenheim 2006). The
growth of online marketplace in United Kingdom gives a strong platform to the online
marketers for developing online business. Organizations and individuals engaged in online
business have to monitor and analyze the behaviour and trends of the customers to identify
their changing demand and problems. It is possible to reach new customers if the market is
analyzed properly. Marketers can take feedback from the customers to identify the factors
properly. Two way communications is very effective in these situations.
Online shopping has changed the shopping experience of the customers. Now it is not
bounded by regional borders. Online business has gone global through World Wide Web and
global courier and parcel services. Many firms have launched online marketplace to reduce
the cost of selling and marketing and to stay competitive in the market through low price.
Large corporations maintain websites to notify the customers about new products and service
and to communicate with them. This is a very good way to take feedback from the customers.
Many corporations use online survey form to take feedback from customers. At present,
customers are very conscious and knowledgeable. They dont simply buy products.
Customers study about the products, compare among the products offered by different
organizations. Customers reviews are available in different online blogs, from where, the
customers share their experience about the products and services and post purchase services
offered by the sellers. Online stores offer products at relatively low cost which is one of the
influencing reasons to bring more customers online (Oppenheim 2006).
Online shopping started with limited customers and a few sellers. Then internet was not so
available and as the number of customers was limited, a few firms started online business. So
the activities of the customers were limited to buying and browsing among some products.
Comparing among most of the products was not possible (Smith 2013). In that situation, it
was very important to identify the problems of the customers and the ways how internet can
solve those problems. The best way to consider the behaviour of the customers towards
online shopping is to sort out the influencing factors (Constantinides 2011). To do that, the
design of the web site, user friendliness, security of the system, convenience and time can be
analyzed.
1.2 Case Company Overview: ABC SUPERMARKETS

In 1999, ABC SUPERMARKETS became a member of the ABC Group family. ABC
Groupis devoted to serve its 200 million customers each week and is continuously keeping
the promise of the beginner, Sam Walton, Saving peoples money to help them live better.
This promise is delivered through the Every Day Low Cost = Every Day Low Price
(EDLC=EDLP) strategy that supports everything that ABC Group does.
The ABC Group Stores Inc. group, based in Bentonville, Arkansas, has grown up
significantly over the last 20 years. International expansion is at the core of its growth, and
now accounts for almost 25% of its total sales. In 2009, ABC Group International topped
$100 billion net sales for the first time. ABC SUPERMARKETS is an integral part of the
international portfolio, with a contribution of 31% of sales.
The positive impact of Wal-Marts acquisition of ABC SUPERMARKETS has been felt on
both sides of the Atlantic Over the last ten years. At ABC SUPERMARKETS , they are
successfully extending their price leadership because of the global sourcing capability of their
parent company Wal-Mart. Wal-Marts focus on leveraging its global scale is also helping
ABC SUPERMARKETS
to achieve an even lower cost to operate and to take their
sustainability programme to a new level.

Millions of people are able to buy their groceries online at ABC SUPERMARKETS .com,
which are delivering through 1,100 vans from over 160 nationwide stores and one dedicated
home shopping centre which is covering over 97% of the UK population. In 2009, the growth
was around 40%. At the end of 2008, ABC SUPERMARKETS Direct was launched. ABC
SUPERMARKETS Direct enables its customers to choose products from over one million
individual items online or over the phone. Collect in Store allows customers to order online
directly but have a choice to collect from a local store at a time to suit them. It is available at
more than 300 nationwide locations.
1.3
Significance of the Study
People who have access to internet are the potential customers of the firms doing business
online. At present, millions of people are using internet for communication, recreation and
social networking. As the number of internet users is not a problem, firms have to consider
their product offerings and the demand of the customers. Targeting the appropriate customer
segment is very important. At present, the number of firms doing online business is very high
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and the number has been increasing significantly. Along with the new comers, existing firms
are coming forward to do online business because of the benefits offered by online shopping.
Marketers are studying the behaviour of the customers to understand what factors drive the
customers. Marketers with knowledge of customers interest regarding online shopping get
competitive advantage compared to other marketers. The most important factors to identify
are those, which influence customers behaviour while shopping online. Marketers have been
analysing customers behaviour for a long period of time. Those studies are separate because
of the types of customers and the types of products. Consumers behaviour is considered to
be a field of study in marketing. A chapter is found in most of the marketing books by the
name of this. It is important of analyse consumer behaviour to plan and implement marketing
strategy.
Competitive advantage can be gained by a firm, if that firm can identify and monitor the
behaviour of its consumer. Then it can ensure flexibility to go with the consumers.
Identifying the demand of the customers and finding out the best way to meet their demand is
possible, when a marketer maintain direct communication with the consumers. People
shopping online have some common characteristics. They prefer online shopping because
time is their prime consideration. Demographic factors separate online shoppers. The
behaviour of the online shoppers varies according to demographic factors. To identify other
factors influencing the online shopping trend of the customers is also important. If the
marketers consider those factors, it is possible for them to survive the competition and win
the race. Through this strategy, ABC SUPERMARKETS will be able to understand the
impact
of
online
service
quality
on
customer
satisfaction
than
enable
ABC
SUPERMARKETS to take competitive advantage implementing appropriate strategy.

The prime objective of this report is to sort out and analyse the influencing factors which are
liable for influencing purchasing decisions of the customers buying from ABC
SUPERMARKETS . So to identify the customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS according to
demographic factors will be of major importance. The outcome of this article will help ABC
SUPERMARKETS
to understand the customers and their mind set so that ABC
SUPERMARKETS can plan and implement better marketing strategy. This article will also
enhance the knowledge of consumer behaviour of online shopping.
1.4 Aims of the Study

Aim of this research is to analyse the impact of online service quality of ABC
SUPERMARKETS on customer buying decision.
1.5 Objectives of the Study
Objective of this paper is as follows;
Critically analyse the attributes that are considered in measuring online service quality
for customer satisfaction in retail businesses.
Critically analyse the attributes of online service quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS
resulting customer satisfaction.
Evaluate the impact of online service quality dimensions of ABC SUPERMARKETS
on customer satisfaction.
Recommend strategies for management to improve the online service quality of ABC
SUPERMARKETS to satisfy customers.
1.6 Research Questions
Following are the research question of this paper;
What are the attributes that are considered in measuring online service quality for
customer satisfaction in retail businesses in UK?
What attributes of online service quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS resulting
customer satisfaction?
How online service quality dimensions of ABC SUPERMARKETS the impacts on
customer satisfaction?
What are the strategies for management to improve the online service quality of ABC
SUPERMARKETS to satisfy customers?
1.7
The Structure of the Study
Table 1: Structure of the Study according to the Chapter

Introduction-Initial Description is provided in the first chapter where
Chapter-1
survey question, aim of the research, objectives of the research, hypothesis,
significance of the study and background study is explained.
Chapter-2
Literature review- This chapter, literature review, is designed based on

secondary data collected from different published sources. This chapter
provides detailed description of online service quality and customer

satisfaction. At the end of this chapter, a conceptual framework is designed
reviewing previous literature to guide the research objective.
Chapter-3
Methodology - This section deals with the approaches and methods that fit
to the research. During the description, the author has discussed about
research approaches, methods, strategies, and philosophies. The author has
also discussed the sampling and data collection methods. Data analysis
techniques have also been discussed here.
Chapter-4
Analysis and discussion - In this section, the author has attempted to

analyse the gathered information with the help of charts, tables, pictures,
and models.
Chapter-5
Conclusion, findings and suggestive recommendations-In the last part of

this paper, conclusion and recommendation is provided. Research findings
are provided to help the interested parties understand the context broadly.
Supplementary References and appendices-The sources that have been used while
chapter
conducting the research have been presented here.
1.8 1.6 Conclusion:

Online retailing business can aid both the traders and the customers in many ways. The
example of Mr. Jason, which is provided at the beginning, talks about the problems of
traditional shopping and the opportunities that online shopping provides. The significance of
this research is clearly stated earlier. A lot of articles are published on consumer behaviour
and consumer behaviour in case of online shopping. A literature review is provided on that
Chapter Two: Literature review
A lot of researches are conducted and articles are published on consumer behaviour focusing
purchasing behaviour and consumer satisfaction. In this article, the literature review presents
the reviews of relevant articles on consumer satisfaction specially consumer satisfaction in
case of online purchase. Under this chapter, summary of related concepts and literatures are
presented. A clear overview is provided about the research in this chapter.
2.1 Definition & Characteristics of Services
The service sector has been gaining priority in recent years because of its contribution to the
national economy. Service industry has significant stand in global economy as the level of
diversity and types of services have increased to a great extent. As the industry is growing
larger, the number of competitors is increasing rapidly. The market of the service industry is
very competitive. To survive the competition, service providing firms have to respond faster
and ensure flexibility. The definition of services was not as good as now we see. The
definition was revised in 1990 to cope with the changing types of services (Gronroos 2010).
Services are the solutions to the problems of the customers. Service providers solve the
problems at a cost charged to the customers.
Business firms selling physical goods are not service firms. Services cant be homogeneous
and tangible. They cant be owned and reserved either. These are the distinct characteristics
of service (Gronroos 2010). Production, consumption and distribution are the immediate
processes of service. If the customer is engaged directly or indirectly in the process, then
service is generated through them. Consumers get their desired service with desired quality
when the services are generated after they have been tailored according to the need of the
customer. At present, the production firms are practicing to produce products considering the
demand of the customers. But service industry is the best to do that as each service is
generated to fulfil specific demand. Service providers have to give outmost service so that the
customers dont go to another service provider for better service.
2.2 Online Retailing Services
The online retailing services offer the attributes of home delivery service, 24 hour order
receiving service, money back guarantee, product back offer, price incentive and many more
(Mattila 2008). It increases the time of shopping and paying for them. The online shoppers
can easily make comparison among the services provided by different service providers. This
enables the shoppers to choose the best service provider at his convenience. So if the
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customer is not satisfied with the current service provider, he can choose another one (Santos
2009).Online retailers have less bargaining option compared to that of real world retailers. So
they have to offer better goods and services to the customers to survive the completion.
Online retailers come up with some kind of competitive advantage what defines them
separately from other competitors.
2.3
Tools of Measuring Online Service Quality
2.3.1 SERVQUAL
Marketing is concerned about the satisfaction that the customers or the related parties are
going to get by the activities of marketing. The field of study of satisfaction got priority by
the researchers for few decades. The significance of service quality was focused in the
available literature on customer satisfaction (Anderson 1993). Quality of service is
considered as the assessment of customers subjective perspective of the performance of
actual service (Parasuraman et al. 2008). The results of the researches and the evaluation are
prepared based on the service types and the delivery process.
SERVQUAL offers the digital tool to manage and measure the quality of service. The article
on technology was published in 1985 for the very first time. Parasuraman and Berry, the
innovator of the tool, upgraded and stabilized the technology and published the articles on the
progress (Parasuraman 2008).SERVQUAL was designed with the belief that the quality of
service is supreme from customers assessment. The quality of service is a factor which
depends on so many other factors. According to Parasuraman (2008), 10 dimensions of
service quality are:1- Access (accessibility plus easiness of interaction), 2- Communication
(understanding the demand of customers), 3- Competence (availability of essential
knowledge and skill to provide the service), 4-Courtesy (boldness of communication
personnel), 5-Credibility (honesty and trustworthiness), 6- Reliability (uniformity of
performance and reliability), 7- responsiveness (eagerness of personnel and timeliness of
services), 8- security (threat of disbelief and independence from risk), 9- tangibles (physical
evidence of services), 10- understanding the consumer. According to Parasuraman, these
dimensions are concentrated into 5 dimensions. They are tangibility, responsiveness,
assurance, reliability and empathy. Except tangibility, reliability and responsiveness, the
dimensions are collapsed in 2 dimensions which are empathy and assurance. He formed a 22
item instrument with the objective of measuring the expectation and perception of customers.
To measure each dimension, 4th and 5th items are used. This technology is managed twice in
dissimilar forms, 1st to measure expectations and 2nd to consider perceptions.
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Table 2: SERVQUAL Dimensions

Dimensions
The definition
Reliability
The capability of providing services with accuracy and quality
Assurance
The honesty and familiarity of employees and their aptitude to convey

self-assurance and belief.
Tangibility
The presence of tools, communication resources, materials and trained

personnel
Empathy
The ability of knowing the emotion of others.
Responsiveness
Eagerness of helping the consumers with high quality and quick services
Another researcher Girish (2013) gave argument against the performance of SERVQUAL
stating that the assessmentof quality of service based on expectation-performance gap is
inadequate. The reason is that ample of the empirical research supported measures of quality
of service based on performance.This holds more power of explanation than the measures
based on the gap between expectancy and reality (Babakus 2012). It is also argued that
SERVQUAL gives more focus on the process of service delivery rather than other factors
like technical factors and service quality (Surprenant 2012). It can also be said that the
measurement of SERVQUAL is not considered to be adequate to clarify the technical
attribute of services.
2.3.2 E-SERVQUAL
What customers think about a website depends on their past experience of using that website
and post-interaction services that the website provides (Zeithaml 2002). In case of the
websites used for providing online retailing services, customers consider how user friendly
that website is for taking services and what the website possess to give post purchase
services. The E-Servqual cant be applied fully to consider e-services but E-Servqual can be
used to construct the dimensions (Zeithaml 2002).
Some new dimensions of e-quality have been proposed by Kaynama (2010). To add some
new dimensions, online services of 23 travel agencies were evaluated and seven dimensions
were derived using Servqual. Those seven dimensions are content and purpose (resulting
from reliability), convenience, sensitivity, navigation, design and presentation (resulting from
tangibility), context (guarantee) and personalization and customization (derived from
empathy).
9
E-SERVQL is developed by Zeithaml (2002) to measure the quality of e-services. The

research conducted by him has identified seven dimensions of the quality of service which
are privacy, fulfilment, reliability, efficiency, responsiveness, contract and compensation.
Another four dimensions that they identified which can be used to measure the perception of
the customers regarding the quality of delivery service provided by online service providers
are privacy fulfilment, reliability and efficiency. Another three dimensions are
responsiveness, contract and compensation which become salient at the time when customers
want answers to their questions or have encountered problems.
2.4 E-S-Qual
Zeithaml (2000) conceptualized definition of e-service quality at the time when this concept
was at an initial stage. It was explained that e-service quality refers to the quality of services
which is provided over internet at the form of ordering, purchasing and delivering products,
paying for the products and services, providing customer care services, take care of postpurchase activities and customer friendliness of the website. A research was conducted by
Zeithaml (2000, 2002) on the quality of internet service on the basis of the service quality of
conventional channels of distribution. He proposed E-S-Qual based on seven dimensions.
Later, he published an article on the comparison between the dimensions of Serviqual and ES-Qual (Zeithaml 2002).He said that Serviqual dimensions are eligible to be applied to eservice quality. But this is not enough as more dimensions are present in e-service. A lot of
dimensions of e-service quality are linked with technology. At the initial stage, E-S-Qual
comprised of 11 dimensions. The research conducted by Parasuraman (2008) developed
seven dimensions for e-service quality which are split in to two core dimensions. Another
recovery dimension was also added. Privacy, fulfilment, availability of system and efficiency
are the four core dimensions of E-S-Qual. Contact, compensation and responsiveness are the
three dimensions in the second scale under the title of E-RecS-Qual (Parasuramanet al. 2008).
The dimension of surface is offered by E-RecS-Qualon the basis of customer evaluation
perspective and experience. These are also viewed as the pasts to the implementation of eservice (Rowley 2006).Both of the measurements validate better psychometric attributes
according to the outcomes from validity and consistency tests and built on the research
accompanied on the subject.
2.5 Customer Satisfaction & Online Service Quality
The process of developing sustainable relationship between the customers and the sellers
through better value creation and customer care is reputed worldwide (Zeithaml 2000). The
10
quality of service is a kind of competitive advantage that ensures that a firm can enjoy a
sustainable growth over a period of time. At present, the number of people using internet is
increasing remarkable as well as the number of potential customers of online retailers. These
customers are knowledgeable and have access to product and service information. A lot of
websites are present in web world where people share their experience of using products and
services. So the customers purchasing online can easily identify the best product for him at
the best price. The related services are also important. If a person buys a product and feels
that he needs to return that, then if the quality of service is not satisfactory, the customer will
switch the supplier. The quality of delivery service depends on time, cost and behaviour. So
the quality of service provided by the online sellers has become a major issue to be
considered for the success of the online sellers. To be successful, along with the products, an
online retailer has to focus on the services to be provided to the customers. Quality is the key
element for the success in business (Dale 2009).So quality has to be ensured at all level of
business process. Without the presence of quality management approach, the promise of
delivering quality products and services wont be possible as quality is the sum of trained
employees, updated systems, proper business process and bargaining power.
Customer satisfaction and the quality of services are two important concepts of marketing
(Spreng 2006). If a firm can deliver high quality services to its customers, the customers get
satisfied and become loyal to that firm. Loyal customers are very important for a firm as they
never leave the firm if the current level of services is provided by that firm (Schaupp 2005). It
is admitted by many studies that there is direct relationship between customer satisfaction and
service quality (Sureshchandar 2012). In case of online retailers, the quality of service is
crucial for their success.
2.6 Conceptual Framework
On the basis of the literature review, the relationship between customer satisfaction and
quality of service has been shown in figure-3.From the model of Eservqual, five dimensions
of e-service quality is selected. Websites are measured by E-Serviqual (E-SQ) as observed by
consumers. E-SQ is a modern method of measuring the websites which is based on the
upgraded principles of Serviqual. It also includes some dimensions used in Serviqual. The
scale of E-Servqual consists of a recovery scale and a core which are represented by three
dimensions and four dimensions respectively (Zeithaml 200, 2002). To measure the
perception of the customers towards the quality of delivery made by the online sellers, the
core scale is used. Recovery scale is active when a consumer is facing problem regarding
11
products and services or has any query regarding products and services. In such cases, three
dimensions developed for recovery scale become salient. The core scale talks about the
excellence of the website, but the recovery scale focuses on the real performance of the firm,
so the performance of the website is not solely focused.
E-Servqual is used worldwide and is very useful to measure the performance of the service
quality of the websites. In this research, E-Servqual has been used for providing reference.
Figure 1: Relationship between E-Service Quality and Customer Satisfaction based on
E-SERVQUAL.
Efficiency
Fulfillment
Reliability
Customer Satisfaction
Privacy
Responsivenes
s
Table 3: E-Servqual Dimensions
Efficiency
Efficiency is the consumers capability of accessing websites effectively,

looking for the preferred goods & services. Searching for required
information and comparing them with other available information at
minimal effort is also the part of efficiency (Zeithaml 2002). Efficiency can
be explained as the swiftness of searching, downloading and browsing
(Jessica 2013).
Fulfillment
Fulfilment is a firms real performance based on the promise made by the

firm over the online activities and combines accuracy of facility promises.
An example can be having goods in stock and on-time shipping (Cristian,
&Iulian, 2007).
Reliability
Reliability refers to websites technical functions i.e. the level of websites

12
availability and functionality (Cristian 2007). Jessica (2003) said

reliability is the capability of performing the assured services accurately
and consistently, a part of which is updating the online resources, quick
response to consumer queries and precision of web based retailing and
payment.
Privacy
Websites collect a lot of information of the customers including personal

information and bank information which are required to complete
transaction. This dimension refers to the assurance that such data is kept
secured (Zeithaml, 2002). The concept of privacy states that firms keep the
customer related information confidential and dont give them to 3rd parties
without prior permission of the customers. All kind of information
including the sensitive information stored by the firm are under this
consideration (Wolfinbarger 2012)
Responsiveness Responsiveness can be measured by the firms ability of providing proper

information to the consumersif that is required solving a problem (Zeithaml
2002). Responsiveness includes very fast response to the customers, taking
initiative to solve customer problem as fast as possible and calling back the
customers quickly if required (Lamb et al. 2009).
2.7 Hypothesis:
H1: Efficiency has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour
H2: Fulfilment has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour
H3: Reliability has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour
H4: Privacy has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour
H5: Responsiveness has significant positive correlation with customer behaviour
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Chapter Three: Methodology
This chapter will demonstrate the process of conducting this research; the research
methodology. A simple and comprehensive methodology is the primary key to solve a
research problem easily. Zimamund et al, (2009) discussed this particular criterion in his
writing where he indicated that the outcome of a research is pretty much dependent on the
method of conducting the research. This particular chapter has facilitated the author to
develop the research in a proper manner by determining the specific philosophy, appropriate
proposal, sampling style, analysis technique in terms of ethical consideration of a research.
3.1 Research Philosophy
Philosophy is the main base of performing any job. The importance of this factor can be
analyzed by the characteristics of different philosophical question (Hughes, 2004). The
degree of creativity and the eagerness to know the unknown are determined by the broadness
and exposedness to philosophy. Two widely used research philosophies are positivism and
inteprevitism.
Positivism & Interprevitism
People believes in the positivism approach of research philosophy denote that the course of
any action is predetermined and subject to experiment. This issue can better be described by
the objective point of view of the event, not by intercepting the occurrence (Zeithmal, 2009).
This is the logic of vagueness and inaccessibility where the preparation of action can really.
Reality is so often described in terms of a single variable that the similarity and relation with
the ecological balance is often misinterpreted. The interpretivism philosophy considers the
formal learning process with regular reinforcement and the researcher only can influence the
process of the learning with little or no assistance for the learner.
Justification of Positivism
With the understanding of four main types of research philosophies the positivism seems to
be the accurate philosophy for this particular research. As the main object of this philosophy
is to figure out the cause-effect relationship and value free testing (Ghauri & Gronhaug,
2005) the process of negatively testing the hypothesis is mostly related to the definition of a
real world which is given by the followers of this philosophy. As positivism is the most
recognized way for carry out the data collection process of a research the author has been
convinced to use this philosophy for this particular research.
14
3.2 Research Approach

It is important to decide whether inductive approach or deductive approach will be used for
this research. Based on that, the research articles will be used to understand the present
context of study. If deductive approach is used, the researcher generates a hypothesis using
theory. Once a hypothesis is developed, that is tested and the hypothesis is either accepted or
rejected. If inductive approach is used, then data is collected first. Then collected data are
analyzed and a theory is developed based on the analysis (Saunders 2009).
Deductive approach is used for this research. So a hypothesis is developed first using existing
theory and concepts. After the hypothesis is developed, that is expressed in prepared terms.
Then the hypothesis is tested. Then the results are analyzed and finally a theory is expressed
based on the results and the findings. The deductive approach used in this research is
supported by structured methodology to increase the acceptance of this research and to
support the limitations.
3.3 Research Strategy
Research strategy refers to overall placement to the behaviour of business research (Bryman
2007).Quantitative research and qualitative research is the two different research cluster
strategies. These two are different on the basis of measurement, qualification and ontological
& epistemological foundation (Bryman 2007).
Qualitative Research:
This kind of research is conducted where generalization of a theory is emphasized which is

based on research observation. Qualitative research can be considered as the contrast of
quantitative research in most of the every aspect (Bryman 2007).
Quantitative Research:
In case of doing research using deductive approach, quantitative research is conducted. This
is done because in those cases, the objective of the research is to test a hypothesis to decide
whether a theory can be developed. Numbers are of prime concern in case of quantitative
research. The sample size used for quantitative research is very large in number. There is less
probability that the research outcome along with the researched will be biased in case of
quantitative research because statistical concepts and tools are used to conduct research and
measures are taken to increase the confidence on the statistical outcomes.
Justification
15
For doing this research, different kinds of numbers and ratio analysis are conducted.
Analyzing quantitative results and making comparison among them is also conducted, so
quantitative research is made to prepare this article. Based on the research objective,
deductive approach is selected as quantitative research is linked with deductive approach. To
complete this research, quantitative research is conducted and deductive approach is used.
3.4
Data collection Techniques

Primary Vs. Secondary
Data collection is an essential work for research where the researchers collect the data and
process them to turn them into information. Data is collected to find out the answers to the
questions set for the research (Rubin 2010). Data can be collected from primary sources and
secondary sources. Primary sources of data are those where the data collectors are the first
people to generate the data which means that no one ever collected those data from those
sources before. Secondary sources of data are those where the data collected by others are
provided. To conduct this research, primary data are collected from the customers of ABC
SUPERMARKETS after giving them a short briefing on this research. Articles published on
consumer behaviour and consumer behaviour in online business, web published information,
books and journals are used to collect secondary data.
Sampling Techniques
Sampling is very important for research. If proper sampling is not ensured, then the outcome
of the research might not be acceptable. Sample should represent the population. Probability
and non-probability are the two types of techniques for sampling. In case of probabilistic
technique, each element representing the population has equal chance to be selected as a
sample for the research. In case of non-probabilistic technique, such system is not applied.
Rather, personal judgment of the researcher is used to do sampling (Malhotra 2006).
Figure 2: Sampling Technique Classification
16
Non-probabilistic technique will be used in this research for investigation as non-probabilistic

technique is appreciated for giving extended flexibility and freedom to the researchers in
selecting the sample from the population (Parasuraman 1991). Use of professional judgment
while sampling gives better results as the numbers are not always good enough analyse the
whole thing.
Convenience sampling is thought to be one of the right methods for obtaining relevant data
without giving extensive effort. This procedure is conducted by the convenience of the
researcher to shape the basis of the sampling (Sunders 2009). The respondents are selected
based on the logic that they are found conveniently and timely. Samples, available in
researchers convenience, are selected if the qualities of proper sample are met (Malhotra
2006).
The Sample
To conduct this research, a total number of 100 samples are used where population is sixty
three million. The samples are selected in a systematic way so that they can represent the
population with minimum flaw. All samples were given a survey sheet where the research
questions were described. Among the 100 survey sheets, 21 were not used because they were
incomplete. After analyzing the age of the online shoppers of England, the age range of the
sample is set from 18 year to 59 year. As most of the customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS
17
are household customers (Dickson 2004), and their age also varies from 18 to 59, samples
which are collected to represent the target population. In United Kingdome, online shoppers
have become one of the remarkable market segments to be considered by the marketers
(Tong 2009).
Location
To work on the perception of the customers, intercept survey of the shopping centres was
conducted. Three shopping points from Stanford, London and Whitechapel were selected in
this regard. Customers using internet and having online payment access are considered for
this research. Basic criteria of having internet access, age and online shopping practice were
asked first, if the criteria are met, they were given a survey sheet. They were well briefed
about the purpose of the research so that they can answer the questions with accuracy. The
respondents responded to the survey fluently and they didnt do that for any kind of benefit.
Research Instrument
To measure a specific phenomenon, some specific instruments are used which are considered
as the research instrument. Use of paper test, paper survey, and online survey form are
research instruments. To conduct this research, survey is used to measure the impact of
quality of online retailing business and the satisfaction level of the customers of ABC
SUPERMARKETS . A questionnaire was developed to conduct the survey. The wordings of
the questions were revised several times to make sure that those questions communicate the
exact question to the respondents.
3.5 Data Analysis Procedure
Measures
To meet the goals of this research, questionnaire is used to gather the required data. The
questionnaire was developed with the questions about the factors which might be affecting
the level of satisfaction of the people buying online. Questions regarding reliability, privacy,
efficiency, fulfilment and responsiveness were set as a part of measuring the level of
satisfaction of the people shopping online (Sivdas 2010). The level of customer satisfaction
that the customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS are currently enjoying was measured through
the answers of these questions. The literature review was used to develop the initial
questionnaire. It is important to plan and design the questionnaire in a proper manner so that
18
the research objectives are can be met. A questionnaire which is not properly planned can
generate biased and vague information for research work.
3.6 Ethical Consideration

Before providing the questionnaire, the respondents were assured that the information
provided by them will be kept confidential and will only be used for the research purpose.
They will be briefed about the research and the objectives to enable them answer the
questions with confidence. Required initiatives were taken to make sure that the data are not
biased.
3.7
Data Quality
Reliability
Reliability talks about the probability of repetition of findings which is derived from a
research (Bryman 2007). In other words, reliability stands for the consistency of research
findings and the use of the same data collection procedure for analysing the research findings
(Saunders 2009). Another point of reliability is that if the same research procedure is
followed, then the same research outcome will come. If this research is conducted using
different samples but the criteria are the same, then if a research article is written based on
those information, then it will be found that there is no remarkable differences between these
two research works. .
Validity
The validity of a research refers to the similar research problem intended to be measured
(Golafshani 2003). Validity of a research depends of so many factors. Timeliness is very
important as the factors change with time. As the objective of this research is to find out the
relationship between the customer satisfaction and the online retailing service quality in ABC
SUPERMARKETS , the outcomes of this research will be valid if the factors of online
shopping, like the web site, online security system, product delivery system remain the same.
3.8
Limitation
This research is conducted by collecting information directly from the customers to find out
the relationship between the service quality of online retailing business and customer
satisfaction. As no other parties are considered to do this research, the outcome might be
biased to a single party. Only the perception of the customers is focus, but the perception of
19
the management is also very important. The respondents acted voluntarily and there is no
way to judge whether the respondent is giving his true opinion. So there is a problem with the
data collection procedure. Some questionnaires were rejected for lack of information also.
This is tough to work on the factors of humans mind. Customer satisfaction measurement is
not simple.
4 Chapter Four: Results:

This chapter presented results survey using different data analysis tools. Here firstly,
Cronbach Alpha test is conducted to measure the validity of data. Mean is calculated to
measure representative value of each attributes. Pearson correlation is calculated to test
hypothesis and finally regression is run to find out the effect of online service quality
dimensions on customer satisfaction.
4.1 Cronbachs Alpha:
For measuring internal consistency among responses regarding attributes under dimensions,
Cronbachs Alpha test is conducted.
Cronbachs Alpha test measures reliability and
consistency of responses under a dimension. In other word, Cronbachs Alpha test measure
the degree of correlation among responses made under a dimension. Alpha score ranges from
0 to 1. High Alpha score represent high internal consistency among responses. As per Garson
(2002), Alpha score of greater than 0.70 represent high internal consistency though consider
0.6 as highly consistent.
In this paper Cronbachs Alpha test is conducted for each
dimension. To conduct that test, firstly questions are grouped under a dimension and test is
performed for the whole dimension. Thus Cronbachs Alpha result is found for dimensions of
overall customer satisfaction, efficiency, fulfilment, reliability, privacy and responsiveness.
The result of overall customer satisfaction dimension is .84 which is higher than standard
score of 0.7. So, responses under this dimension are reliable and internally consistent for
further statistical test. The result of efficiency dimension is .81 that is higher than standard
further statistical test. The result of fulfilment dimension is .74 which is higher than standard
further statistical test. The result of reliability dimension is .78 that is higher than standard
further statistical test. The result of privacy dimension is .75 which is higher than standard
20
further statistical test. The result of responsiveness dimension is .79 that is higher than
standard score of 0.7. So, responses under this dimension are reliable and internally
consistent for further statistical test.
Table 4: Cronbachs Alpha (CA) and Mean average
CA* ()
Mean
.84
Overall Customer Satisfaction

I am satisfied with online shopping experience in
5.60
5.57
ABC SUPERMARKETS .
I am satisfied with online services provided by
5.58
ABC SUPERMARKETS .
I am satisfied with online service quality
5.65
provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS .

I
am
willing
to
purchase
from
ABC
5.59
SUPERMARKETS online shop in future.

.81
Efficiency
5.62
I can easily find a product in website.
5.67
This is ease to access the website.
5.62
Information is well organized in this website.
5.59
The website is easy to use.
5.61
.74
Fulfilment
ABC SUPERMARKETS keeps promised offer
5.61
5.61
for the customer.

ABC SUPERMARKETS
is truthful regarding
5.52
provide accuracy of
5.68
ABC SUPERMARKETS provide quick online
5.63
services.
ABC SUPERMARKETS
promises.
services.
Reliability
The website is always available to access.
.78
5.59
5.58
21
Uploading, runnig and execution of website is
5.54
proper.
ABC SUPERMARKETS provides accuracy of
5.63
online purchasing and billing.

ABC SUPERMARKETS
provides services
5.62
consistently.
.75
Privacy
ABC SUPERMARKETS keeps information of
5.62
5.64
online purchase behaviour private.

ABC SUPERMARKETS
does not share my
5.61
personal information with others.

ABC SUPERMARKETS protect my credit card
5.66
related information.
Online transaction with ABC SUPERMARKETS
5.56
is safe and secure.

.79
Responsiveness
ABC SUPERMARKETS contacts quickly with
5.57
5.56
customers.
ABC SUPERMARKETS
is interested in
5.62
ABC SUPERMARKETS provides quick reply
5.54
customer feedback.
for query.
ABC SUPERMARKETS
quickly resolves
5.58
problems encountered in transactions.

Mean Average
5.60
4.2 Pearson correlation

Pearson correlation defines fluctuation in one variable is how correlated with fluctuation in
another variable. In other words, person correlation refers to the degree of linear correlation
among variables. Pearson correlation of greater than 0.30 is considered as reasonable
correlation at significance level of less than 0.01 as per Cohens (1988) guideline. Table 4.2
22
indicates that there are high correlations among variables. Hypothesises of this paper is tested
using Pearson correlation by examining correlation among diameters.
Table 5: Pearson Correlations
Correlations
1
1
Overall Customer
Pearson Correlation
Satisfaction
Sig. (2-tailed)
Efficiency
Fulfilment
Reliability
Privacy
Responsiveness
100
Pearson Correlation
.664
Sig. (2-tailed)
.001
100
Pearson Correlation
.676
Sig. (2-tailed)
.002
100
Pearson Correlation
.698
Sig. (2-tailed)
.001
100
Pearson Correlation
.629
Sig. (2-tailed)
.001
100
Pearson Correlation
.698
Sig. (2-tailed)
.002
23
100
4.3 Hypothesis testing

First hypothesis (H1) of this paper is efficiency has significant positive relationship with
customer satisfaction. To test this hypothesis, overall customer satisfaction dimension is
regarded as proxy for customer satisfaction and it is regarded as dependent variable where
efficiency parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation
represents r = .664 at significance level .001 that indicates that efficiency has significant
positive correlation with customer satisfaction. So, null hypothesis of no significant positive
relationship of efficiency variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative
hypothesis is accepted.
Second hypothesis (H2) of this paper is fulfilment has significant positive relationship with
fulfilment parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation
represents r = .676 at significance level .002 that indicates that fulfilment has significant
relationship of fulfilment variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative
Third hypothesis (H3) of this paper is reliability has significant positive relationship with
reliability parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation
represents r = .698 at significance level .001 that indicates that reliability has significant
relationship of reliability variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative
Forth hypothesis (H4) of this paper is privacy has significant positive relationship with
privacy parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation
24
represents r = .629 at significance level .001 that indicates that privacy has significant
relationship of privacy variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative
Fifth hypothesis (H5) of this paper is responsiveness has significant positive relationship with
responsiveness parameter is considered as independent variable. Result of Pearson correlation
represents r = .698 at significance level .002 that indicates that responsiveness has significant
relationship of responsiveness variable with customer satisfaction is rejected and alternative
4.4 Regression Analysis:

Regression is run to measure the impact of independent variable on dependent variable. Here
regression analysis is conducted to measure the impact of online service quality of ABC
SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. Responses under overall customer satisfaction
are considered as proxy for customers satisfaction which is regarded as dependent variable.
Responses are grouped under different dimensions (efficiency, fulfilment, reliability, privacy
and responsiveness) of online service quality in ABC SUPERMARKETS are considered as
independent variables. The result of regression test is as follows;
Table 6: Model summary for regression between overall customer satisfaction and
independent variables
Model Summary
Adjusted
Model R
1
.652a
R Std. Error of Durbin-
R Square Square
the Estimate
Watson
.800
.16817
1.184
.629
Adjusted R Square (R2) measures fitness of a model. It indicates how much change in
dependent variable can be explained by independent variables. The result of R2 is .629 that
indicates that 62.9% change in overall customer satisfaction can be explained by dependent
variables.
25
Table 7: Regression results for impact of online customer service quality on customer
satisfaction
Dependent Variable: Overall Customer Satisfaction
Unstandardized
Coefficients
Model
Std. Error
Sig.
(Constant)
.000
.004
-.133
.895
Efficiency
.308
.005
55.895
.000
Fulfillment
.339
.002
14.664
.000
Reliability
.315
.003
27.776
.000
Privacy
.303
.003
102.137
.000
Responsiveness
.344
.003
28.883
.000
Coefficient of efficiency dimension is .308 at significance level bellow .01 that indicates that
1% improve in efficiency of online service quality can result in .308% change in overall
customer satisfaction. Coefficient of fulfilment dimension is .339 at significance level bellow
.01 which implies that 1% improve in fulfilment of online service quality can result in .308%
change in overall customer satisfaction. Coefficient of reliability dimension is .315 at
significance level bellow .01 which depicts that 1% improve in reliability of online service
quality can result in .308% change in overall customer satisfaction. Coefficient of privacy
dimension is .303 at significance level bellow .01 that indicates that 1% improve in privacy
of online service quality can result in .308% change in overall customer satisfaction.
Coefficient of responsiveness dimension is .344 at significance level bellow .01 which means
that 1% improve in responsiveness of online service quality can result in .308% change in
overall customer satisfaction.
26
5 Chapter Five: Analysis and interpretation

This chapter will represent the findings of results analysed in the previous chapters. The aim
of the study is to find out the impact of online service quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on
customer satisfaction. For measure service quality five online service quality dimensions
(efficiency, fulfilment, reliability, privacy, responsiveness) are selected from E-SERVQUAL
model and single dimension is designed naming Overall customer Satisfaction to measure
customer point of view regarding satisfaction towards online service quality proved by ABC
SUPERMARKETS . Survey is conducted on customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS and
different statistical test is conducted to reach a meaningful conclusion.
Efficiency refers to the ability to easily find a product in a website, ease of access to website,
organisation of information, and ease of using a website. It also incorporates to the ease of
searching contents, downloading and navigation. Customer perception regarding efficiency
attribute of online service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS is collected through
survey and tested. This is found that all responses replied by customers about efficiency
attributes of online service quality are internally consistent and reliable as per Cronbachs
Alpha test result. Mean average score is calculated to find out the representative value of all
responses made by customers under efficacy dimension and found that mean average score is
5.62 that can replaced with all responses under this dimension. This is hypothesised that
efficiency has significant positive correlation with customer satisfaction. This is found that
efficiency has significant positive correlation with customer satisfaction. Regression is run to
find out the impact of efficiency of online service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on
customer satisfaction. This is found that 1% improve in efficiency of online service quality
offered by ABC SUPERMARKETS can result in .308% improve in overall customer
satisfaction.
Fulfilment defines as accuracy of promises made on website such as timely delivery and
having products in stock, truthfulness regarding services, keeping promised offer for the
customers and providing quick online services. Customer reaction about fulfilment dimension
of online service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS is collected. This is found
that all responses replied by customers about fulfilment attributes of online service quality are
internally consistent and reliable as per Cronbachs Alpha test result. Mean average score is
calculated to find out the representative value of all responses made by customers under
fulfilment dimension and found that mean average score is 5.61 that can replaced with all
responses under this dimension. This is hypothesised that fulfilment has significant positive
correlation with customer satisfaction. This is found that fulfilment has significant positive
correlation with customer satisfaction. Regression is run to find out the impact of fulfilment
of online service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. This is
found that 1% improve in fulfilment of online service quality offered by ABC
SUPERMARKETS can result in .339% improve in overall customer satisfaction.
Reliability indicates the technical functioning quality of a website such as availability to
access, accuracy in purchasing and billing, consistency of providing services and proper
27
uploading, running and execution. Customer view about reliability dimension of online
service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS is collected. This is found that all
responses replied by customers about reliability attributes of online service quality are
reliability dimension and found that mean average score is 5.59 that can replaced with all
responses under this dimension. This is hypothesised that reliability has significant positive
correlation with customer satisfaction. This is found that reliability has significant positive
correlation with customer satisfaction. Regression is run to find out the impact of reliability
of online service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. This is
found that 1% improve in reliability of online service quality offered by ABC
Privacy includes keeping information of customer private, not sharing personal information
of customer with third party, protecting credit card related information and ensuring
transaction with safety and security. A survey is conducted to gather customer opinion pricy
dimension of online service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS . This is found that
all responses replied by customers about privacy attributes of online service quality are
privacy dimension and found that mean average score is 5.62 that can replaced with all
responses under this dimension. This is hypothesised that privacy has significant positive
correlation with customer satisfaction. This is found that privacy has significant positive
correlation with customer satisfaction. Regression is run to find out the impact of privacy
efficiency of online service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction.
This is found that 1% improve in privacy of online service quality offered by ABC
Responsiveness is the ability of online service provider to appropriate inform quickly to
customers, resolving problem encountered by customers, being interested in customer
feedback, providing quick reply for information, and providing prompt service. Customer
responses are collected about responsiveness attribute of online service quality provided by
ABC SUPERMARKETS . This is found that all responses replied by customers about
responsiveness attributes of online service quality are internally consistent and reliable as per
Cronbachs Alpha test result. Mean average score is calculated to find out the representative
value of all responses made by customers under responsiveness dimension and found that
mean average score is 5.57 that can replaced with all responses under this dimension. This is
hypothesised that responsiveness has significant positive correlation with customer
satisfaction. This is found that responsiveness has significant positive correlation with
customer satisfaction. Regression is run to find out the impact of responsiveness of online
service of quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. This is found that
1% improve in responsiveness of online service quality offered by ABC SUPERMARKETS
can result in .344% improve in overall customer satisfaction.
28
Finally it can be said that efficiency, fulfilment, reliability, privacy responsiveness parameters
of online service quality has significant positive correlation with customers satisfaction.
Regression result shows that online service quality has significant positive impact on
customer satisfaction.
29
Chapter six: Conclusion, recommendation and further research scope
6.1 Conclusion:
The main research question of this paper is to find out the impact of online service quality of
ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. To answer this research question,
researcher reviewed conceptual framework comprising of five independent variables such as
efficiency, fulfilment, privacy, reliability and responsiveness. Researcher intended to measure
impact of independent variables on dependent variable of customer satisfaction. A
questionnaire survey is conducted on 100 customers of ABC SUPERMARKETS and
responses are categorized under different variables. Multiple correlations are conducted
among independent variables of efficiency, fulfilment, privacy, reliability, responsiveness
and dependent variable of customer satisfaction to find out the relationship among them. This
is found that efficiency, fulfilment, privacy, reliability and responsiveness have significant
positive relationship with customer satisfaction. Multiple regressions are run to find out the
impact of five parameters (efficiency, fulfilment, privacy, reliability, and responsiveness) of
online service quality of ABC SUPERMARKETS on customer satisfaction. The regression
findings supports that improve in online service quality will improve customer satisfaction
proportionately. Hence it is likely to increase sales of ABC SUPERMARKETS as satisfied
customer will made repeat purchase online.
Moreover, the regression result also strongly supports the importance of considering the five
independent variables which has influenced customers to purchase online. In general, the
result supports the theoretical norms, the conceptual model, and the article review of previous
research. Finally, all evidences of the findings show that the independent variable of e-service
quality is the most significant factor which has affects upon the customers satisfaction and
online purchasing. The purpose of this study is to use and refine E-SERVQUAL model in
order to find out the influential factors of online purchasing. Hence, todays each and every
kind of service oriented industry has a prime concern upon customer satisfaction. Online
shopping is not outside this concern. Major factors in findings section are also responsible for
the satisfaction regarding e-service quality. So, these are the influential factors of customers
satisfaction and their purchasing decision online.
6.2 Recommendation
In this study, the findings section contains some results. The following recommendations will
be helpful for the managerial implications of the e-retailers:
The e-retailers have to develop their website with the considerations of the given
results.
Websites should be well coordinated and that will help customers to make purchase
decisions smoothly.
Managers have to be more careful about prompt delivery of goods or services to the
customer.
In case of taking purchase online decisions, privacy policy plays a vital factor role on
the basis of customer view point. For this reason, managers should maintain an
effective privacy policy regarding customers personal information.
30
It is suggested that, managers should establish a good communication with the

customers so that they can easily get contacted with e-retailers to get any kind of
necessary information.
6.3 Scope of further research:

As mentioned before, data collection is done through using non-profitability sampling
method in the six stores of ABC SUPERMARKETS Whitechapel and Stratford, London.
Therefore, customers attitude and behaviour from those two districts presented through this
paper that may not represent UKs general online market, precisely. UK is a very large
country where different regions and different cities where customer psychology differs by
cultures, behaviours and attitudes. More participants from different towns should be taken in
next research to represent result more generally.
Again, due to lack of time for data collection, only 100 participants have been interviewed.
As a result, more time should be spent in further research to investigate more sample or
participants.
This paper reveals the impact of online service quality on customer satisfaction. Quality
online serve only improve customer satisfaction but also enhance brand image, brand equity,
brand loyalty and profitability. Further research can be done to reveal the impact of online
serve quality on customer brand image, brand equity, brand loyalty, profitability etc.
31
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34
Appendix 1: Questionnaire
Dear participant, my name is M. A. Khan and I am a student at Angelina Ruskin University
in UK. Currently, I am working on my dissertation, where my objective is to analyse of
impact of online retailing service quality on customer satisfaction: a case study of ABC
SUPERMARKETS . Please consider that the questionnaire is totally anonymous. Thank you
in advance for your help!
M. A. Khan
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Have you ever done online shopping in ABC SUPERMARKETS ?
Yes ( Continue to the next question)
No (If No, please go directly to section E)
SECTION A: Overall Customer Satisfaction

2. I am satisfied with online shopping experience in ABC SUPERMARKETS .
Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
3. I am satisfied with online services provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS .

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
4. I am satisfied with online service quality provided by ABC SUPERMARKETS .

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
5. I am willing to purchase from ABC SUPERMARKETS online shop in future.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
35
SECTION B: Efficiency
6. I can easily find a product in website.
Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
Strongly
agree
Neutral
Somewhat
Agree
Strongly
7. This is ease to access the website.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
disagree
agree
4
agree
Somewhat
Agree
Strongly
8. Information is well organized in this website.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
agree
agree
Neutral
Somewhat
Agree
Strongly
9. The website is easy to use.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
disagree
agree
4
agree
6
Agree
Strongly
SECTION C: Fulfilment
10. ABC SUPERMARKETS keeps promised offer for the customer.
Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
agree
agree
6
Agree
Strongly
11. ABC SUPERMARKETS is truthful regarding services.

Strongly
disagree
Disagree
Somewhat
disagree
Neutral
Somewhat
agree
agree
36
Agree
Strongly
12. ABC SUPERMARKETS provides accuracy of promises.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
agree
agree
6
Agree
Strongly
13. ABC SUPERMARKETS provides quick online services.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
agree
agree
Somewhat
Agree
Strongly
SECTION D: Reliability
14. The website is always available to access.
Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
agree
4
agree
6
Agree
Strongly
15. Uploading, runnig and execution of website is proper.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
agree
agree
6
16. ABC SUPERMARKETS provides accuracy of online purchasing and billing.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
Agree
Strongly
17. ABC SUPERMARKETS provides services consistently.

Strongly
disagree
Disagree
Somewhat
disagree
Neutral
Somewhat
agree
agree
37
SECTION E: Privacy
18. ABC SUPERMARKETS keeps information of online purchase behaviour private.
Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
19. ABC SUPERMARKETS does not share my personal information with others.
Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
20. ABC SUPERMARKETS protects my credit card related information.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
21. Online transaction with ABC SUPERMARKETS is safe and secure.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
Agree
Strongly
SECTION F: Responsiveness
22. ABC SUPERMARKETS contacts quickly with customers.
Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
agree
agree
6
23. ABC SUPERMARKETS is interested in customer feedback.
38
Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
Agree
Strongly
23. ABC SUPERMARKETS provides quick reply for query.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
agree
agree
6
25. ABC SUPERMARKETS quickly resolves problems encountered in transactions.

Strongly
Disagree
disagree
1
Somewhat
Neutral
disagree
2
Somewhat
Agree
agree
4
Strongly
agree
SECTION G: Socio Demographic Profile

26. What is your Gender?
Male
Female
27. What is your nationality?
British (UK)
German
Italian
Other European
Indian
Chinese
USA
28. What is your age group?
20-29
30-39
40-49
39
50 and above
29. What is your annual total household income?
10,000 and bellow
10,001-15,000
5,001- 20000
20,001-25,000
25,001-30,000
30,000 and above.
30. What is your occupation?
Student
Self-employed
Professional
Executive
Unemployed
Others
The questionnaire is finished.

Thank you again for you help!
40

Sample Dissertation - 3: Business Publishing

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Sample Dissertation - 3

This is a sample pass answer for the December 2013

ANGLIA RUSKIN UNIVERSITY

UNDERGRADUATE MAJOR PROJECT

Analysis of impact of online retailing service quality on customer satisfaction:

December 2, 12, 2013

Chapter One: Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1

Case Company Overview: ABC SUPERMARKETS ..................................................... 3

Significance of the Study ................................................................................................. 3

Aims of the Study ............................................................................................................. 5

Objectives of the Study .................................................................................................... 5

Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 5

The Structure of the Study ............................................................................................... 5

Chapter Two: Literature review .............................................................................................. 7

Definition & Characteristics of Services .......................................................................... 7

Online Retailing Services ................................................................................................. 7

Tools of Measuring Online Service Quality .................................................................... 8

Customer Satisfaction & Online Service Quality .......................................................... 10

Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................. 11

Chapter Three: Methodology................................................................................................. 14

Research Philosophy ...................................................................................................... 14

Research Approach ........................................................................................................ 15

Research Strategy ........................................................................................................... 15

Data collection Techniques ............................................................................................ 16

Data Analysis Procedure ................................................................................................ 18

Ethical Consideration ..................................................................................................... 19

Data Quality ................................................................................................................... 19

Chapter Four: Results: ........................................................................................................... 20

Pearson correlation ......................................................................................................... 22

Hypothesis testing .......................................................................................................... 24

Regression Analysis: ...................................................................................................... 25

Chapter Five: Analysis and interpretation ............................................................................. 27

Chapter six: Conclusion, recommendation and further research scope................................. 30

Scope of further research: .............................................................................................. 31

Appendix 1: Questionnaire ........................................................................................................... 35

List of tables and figures

Table 1: Structure of the Study according to the Chapter ............................................................... 5

Chapter One: Introduction

1.2 Case Company Overview: ABC SUPERMARKETS

to achieve an even lower cost to operate and to take their

sustainability programme to a new level.

Significance of the Study

SUPERMARKETS to take competitive advantage implementing appropriate strategy.

to understand the customers and their mind set so that ABC

1.4 Aims of the Study

The Structure of the Study

Table 1: Structure of the Study according to the Chapter

Literature review- This chapter, literature review, is designed based on

provides detailed description of online service quality and customer

Analysis and discussion - In this section, the author has attempted to

Conclusion, findings and suggestive recommendations-In the last part of

conducting the research have been presented here.

1.8 1.6 Conclusion:

Chapter Two: Literature review

Tools of Measuring Online Service Quality

Table 2: SERVQUAL Dimensions

The capability of providing services with accuracy and quality

The honesty and familiarity of employees and their aptitude to convey

The presence of tools, communication resources, materials and trained

The ability of knowing the emotion of others.

E-SERVQL is developed by Zeithaml (2002) to measure the quality of e-services. The

Efficiency is the consumers capability of accessing websites effectively,