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As shopping patterns evolve using multiple channels, innovative retailers developed service programs for "Site-to-Store" settings. This study aims to understand what cues shoppers use in judging the quality of service when they buy online and go offline for purchase collection. An empirical study is conducted to: (i) develop a scale for measuring service quality; and (ii) examine the relationships between service quality and the variables perceived value and loyalty intentions. Analytical work suggests that service quality is a function of: website efficiency, website reliability, information quality, assurance, responsiveness, personalization and integrated-pickup. Moreover, we found that the perception of service quality improves perceived value that in turn influences loyalty. The dimension of integrated-pickup is one of the key dimensions influencing significantly overall service quality, perceived value and loyalty intentions. Managerial and research implications stemming from the empirical findings are presented and future research needs are suggested.
Introduction
Today's shoppers tend to 'mix and match' channels for product research, purchase and delivery. Some shoppers search and browse products online and go offline for the purchase, payment and collection, while others go offline for the 'feel and touch' experience and conduct the purchase transaction online for better prices and more attractive promotions. Such shoppers tend to use the channels alternatively adjusting each channel for its strengths. One of the recognized practices of multichannel shoppers is that they conduct their purchase using the web yet they utilize a physical store for purchase collections. This type of multichannel shopper - termed here online-focused shoppers - prefer to pickup their purchase from a store to decrease the monetary and non-monetary costs (e.g., time, effort, shipping costs and psychological cost) (Hoffman & Novak 1996) (see Figure 1). Previous research found online shoppers to be goal-oriented shoppers (Hoffman & Novak, 1996) who seek accomplishing their task with little effort that in turn decreases monetary and non-monetary costs. With shoppers' enthusiasm for online shopping, issues of shipping costs and trust form some barriers to online shopping (Hoffman & Novak 1996). Therefore, unsurprisingly, online-focused shoppers who utilize the multichannel service systems represent a considerable number of shoppers. Responding to such variability in shopping, successful retailers developed multichannel service systems to accommodate the emerging needs of online-focused shoppers.
Based on eMarketer's (20 1 0a)...