An investigation of customer attitude towards online stores

Abstract

Developments in information and communication technologies have transformed the way retailing is conducted today, enabling the opening of stores online. This study aims at examining customers’ post-purchase attitude towards online stores. Data was collected from 201 online customers from Gauteng, South Africa, using a structured questionnaire. The findings show that most customers had positive attitudes towards the online stores they had bought from. Store offerings, navigation aids, security features, and fulfilment reliability were found to have significant influence on customers’ attitude towards online stores, while customer community did not. The findings also show that post-purchase attitude towards an online store has significant influence on behavioural intentions to repurchase from a store. With online retailing being a new phenomenon in Africa in general, not much research has been done to help understand customers’ perceptions and attitudes as well as factors that influence these. This study addresses the gap and shows factors that managers can focus on in order to influence positively their customers’ attitude towards their stores.

Keywords:

• behavioural intention
• customer attitude
• online retailing
• online stores
• South Africa

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Faculty of Management, University of Johannesburg.