Convenient = competitive? How Brick-And-Mortar Retailers can cope with Online Competition

Abstract

Due to the rise of online retailing, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers need to understand what customers find convenient when shopping at physical locations and focus their efforts on those convenience dimensions to remain competitive. We test a service convenience model in the auto-parts retailing industry and examine how various dimensions of service convenience affect customers’ perceptions of the retailer (i.e., service quality, product quality, and perceived value), and subsequently their behavior (i.e., customer loyalty and share of wallet). The results suggest that in traditional retailing, the most important convenience dimensions are decision convenience and benefit convenience. We find that service convenience exerts its effect on customer loyalty and share of wallet through perceived service quality and perceived value, and product quality has an indirect effect through perceived value. Service convenience is an important driver of customer loyalty and share of wallet, and this study demonstrates the mechanism through which it happens.