Purpose: the main purpose of the study was to examine the factors that affect customer satisfaction in online retailing in Indian context and identify the relative influence of factors. A theoretical model was derived in accordance with the literature and was tested empirically.
Methodology/Approach: the data was collected convenience through a structured questionnaire administered through both personal and online mode. Exploratory Factor Analysis was done to measure the latent constructs and establish the structure of factors. The proposed model and impact of each factor on e-satisfaction was tested through Multiple Linear Regression.
Findings: it was found that the antecedents of e-satisfaction can be measured with five underlying factors instead of proposed four factor model. The factors that were found to have significant impact on e-satisfaction are merchandising, product information, perceived value and financial transaction. Interestingly, convenience was found to have an insignificant impact. The strongest impact was that of merchandising followed by perceived value.
Practical implications: firstly the study contributes to the literature by establishing that scales developed to measure factors affecting satisfaction in e-retailing elsewhere can also employed in Indian context also. From e-marketing point of view it was brought forward that merchandising and perceived value are the most important factors that affect e-sat therefore marketers should strengthen their merchandising activities and enhance value perception of the customers.
Research limitations: use of non-probabilistic sampling technique due to non availability of sampling frame was the major limitation that restricts the generalization of the results.