Buying Groceries Online: The Influences of Electronic Service Quality (eServQual) and Situational Factors

The advancement of the technology has changed the way people shop for products and services. Consumers in Malaysia, too, are now avid online shoppers just like the others. The main objectives of this study are to examine the state of online shopping adoption, particularly in the groceries product category and assessing the electronic service quality (eServQual) provided by online grocers and situational factors influential to the online grocery shoppers. Data was collected using online questionnaire sent to potential respondents through personalized electronic mails and online private messages. The findings indicate that the online grocery shopping adoption is still not catching up where Malaysian shoppers still do not have the affinity towards buying groceries online. It was also found that they have the core competencies in online business technology, but should outsource certain capabilities especially if to widen their service coverage, expanding into other markets beyond the major cities.