The changes of customer satisfaction with logistics services of international e-commerce due to the COVID-19 outbreak: A case study between Thailand and the People's Republic of China
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Customer satisfaction has gained special attention in many business sectors, especially international e-commerce sectors, which have continuously showed increasing volume. Besides the quality of the products, the logistics services also affect customer satisfaction, such as delivery time, costs, and correction. But since the COVID-19 outbreak, there are huge changes to customers’ shopping behaviours. Online shopping came into the spotlight. The aim of this study was to examine the changes in customer satisfaction with logistics services of e-commerce before and during the COVID-19 outbreak. In this study, the questionnaire design is built on the dimensions and indicators of the modified fuzzy SERVQUAL evaluation system and confirmed. The case study of online shopping, mainly between Thailand and the People’s Republic of China, is used. Questionnaires gathered both online and offline from 232 experienced users were employed to collect data. Data were analysed using the Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS) version 17. The results were compared to the results from related research to show how issues that affect customer satisfaction have changed. During the COVID-19 outbreak, the most significant predictor for customer satisfaction with logistics services for international e-commerce between Thailand and the People’s Republic of China changed from responsiveness to reliability. The results from this research scientifically confirm that in an unstable situation, the customers' focus shifted from how quickly the e-commerce organisation can serve them to how reliable the organisation is to ensure that they will get the right products and services. Conversely, the gap in customers’ perception and expectation in the reliability dimension is also wider than before the COVID-19 outbreak. This result also implies that while the customer expects more reliability, the organisations cannot meet expectations.
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