A Study On Logistics Service Quality And Its Relationship With Customer Loyalty Of B2C Internet Store

In recent years, the rapid development of Internet and E-commerce (EC) not only created new commercial behavior and economic model. Our shopping behavior has extended from traditional store to Internet store. The goal of the shopping online is to help people to do transaction. However, it needs to rely on logistics service. No matter how will E-commerce be developed, they will still need to deliver the goods. Therefore, the logistics service is playing a very important role in the E-commerce. Therefore, under the environment of Internet how to understand logistics service quality? How to evaluate logistics service quality? And how to understand the relationship between logistics service quality and consumer purchasing behaviour are becoming the focus for both enterprise and scholars.The paper focuses on answering the question of how to build customers' loyalty in the new arising online retailing industry of China. We focus on who ever shopping on-line the physical goods in the B2C internet store and to discuss the drive mechanism of logistics service quality and customer loyalty of internet store. Following the core concept of logistics service quality of B2C internet stores, three stages of research work are conducted by employing empirical study.First, on the basis of literature review about web service quality, service quality of traditional B2C, logistics service quality of B2B, this thesis synthesizes those researchers' opinions. Meanwhile, according to qualitative interview, logistics service quality of B2C Internet store is divided into five dimensions: order quality, customization service quality, response quality, delivery quality, and order discrepancy handling quality. Then, we use the Internet survey to collect 789 effective samples. And use CITC analysis, explore factor analysis, confirmation factor analysis, and correlation analysis to deal with investigation data to confirm the validity and reliability of the multiple scale, named E-LSQ.Second, based on the concept we have defined and the scale we have developed above to the study, this thesis explores and demonstrates the relationships among the five dimensions of logistics service quality of B2C Internet store: order quality influenced customization service quality and response quality respectively, and customization service quality influences response quality. In addition, the study in this stage has also proved that order quality, customization service quality, and response quality have direct effect on delivery quality. The result also provides empirical support for a logistics service quality process, namely, perception of order placement activities influences perception of order receipt activities (Mentzer, Flint & Kent, 2001). At the same time, we empirically test customization service quality and delivery quality influence order discrepancy handling quality. And customization service quality plays more important role than delivery quality.Finally, we construct and empirically test five dimensions of logistics service quality as the antecedent variables and two core concepts of relationship quality, satisfaction and trust, as the mediator factors to build and test a consumer driven model of loyalty in B2C E-commerce. Through checking the original model and competitor model, we get the most fit model. The model instructs that trust is the most important antecedent of customer loyalty, and more important than customer satisfaction. In addition, order discrepancy handling quality also has direct effect on customer loyalty, and more important than customer satisfaction. This is a little different from author's original model, but largely is same. Results also show that five dimensions of logistics service quality have indirect effect on satisfaction and loyalty respectively. Four dimensions have significant effect on customer satisfaction besides response quality, thereinto, customization service quality makes biggest contribution to customer satisfaction. In addition, the study in this stage has also proved the importance of relationship marketing in B2C online shopping. By building and advancing the relationship to consumers, online companies could increase their consumers' perceived value, and then further increase their loyalty. At the same time, the result also approves Singh and Sirdeshmukh's model of post-purchase satisfaction→post-purchase trust→loyalty (Singh and Sirdeshmukh, 2000), and provides an answer about the question of causal-effect relation between satisfaction and trust in B2C online shopping.The contributors of this paper is as follows: (1) Discover the internal composition of logistics service quality of B2C Internet store, including five dimensions: order quality, customization service quality, response quality, delivery quality, order discrepancy handling quality, and develope a reliable and valid multiple scale (E-LSQ) using B2C online consumer samples in Chinese. (2) Explore and empirically test the relationships among the five dimensions of logistics service quality of B2C Internet store. Prove the content and correlativity of logistics service quality under the background of different culture is different, which enrichies theory system of logistics service quality under the environment of Internet (3) By introducing five dimensions of logistics service quality as the antecedent variables, this study has developed and tested the consumer driven model of consumer loyalty of B2C Internet store in which five dimensions of logistics service quality and the two kinds of core concepts of relationship quality, satisfaction and trust respectively are included. And provide this field with a new perspective.