Implementing A Sales Support app to Complement Face-to-Face Interaction: An Empirical Investigation of Business Value

ABSTRACT

Implementing a mobile application (app) to facilitate electronic commerce and to enhance interaction with customers is quite common in contemporary organizations, and research has shed light on the business value of implementing such apps. However, only few empirical studies have explored the business value of implementing an app that supports, rather than substitutes, face-to-face interaction with customers. This study empirically explores and documents the impact of implementing a sales support app that complements face-to-face interaction of a salesperson with a customer in the process of purchasing a new car. Two consecutive periods were compared, before (conventional process) and after (innovative process) app implementation. The results confirmed that the sales support app added business value to the implementing organization via increased visits (although virtual rather than physical) and car purchases. Yet, app visits increased relatively more than purchases did, resulting in an expected decrease in conversion rate.

KEYWORDS:

• Mobile application (App)
• sales support app
• business value
• car purchase
• customer interaction
• conversion rate

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michal Levi-Bliech

Michal Levi-Bliech holds Ph.D. and M.Sc. degrees from the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. She holds a bachelor degree in economics and management from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Her research focuses on how mobile technologies and applications add value to organizational business processes.

Nava Pliskin

Nava Pliskin retired as a chaired and tenured full professor at the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management in Ben-Gurion University, Israel. She holds Ph.D. and S.M. degrees from Harvard University and B.Sc. degree from Tel-Aviv University. Her research focuses on management of information systems at the organizational and individual level. Her research papers have been published in such leading journals as: Journal of the Association for Information Systems, Information Systems Management, Information & Management, and Decision Support Systems, Database for Advances in Information Systems, Information Technology and Tourism.

Lior Fink

Lior Fink is an associate professor of information systems in the Department of Industrial Engineering and Management at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel. He holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and economics, a master's degree in social-industrial psychology, and a Ph.D. degree in information systems from Tel Aviv University. His research interests focus on behavioral and economic aspects of IT development and use. Lior's articles have been published in such prestigious information systems journals as Management Information System Quarterly, Journal of the Association for Information Systems, and European Journal of Information Systems, as well as in psychology, economics, project management, and medical informatics journals.