Factors Affecting Customers’ Satisfaction in Online Shopping: A Study on Capital City of Bangladesh

Abstract

E-commerce, sometimes known as online shopping, is one of the fastest-growing industries on a global scale. In the twenty-first century, people all over the world spontaneously engage in online shopping, a new shopping trend that has magnetically grabbed the attention of Bangladesh. The emergence of e-commerce across the country is surely an exciting social reality that crept into everyday life in the modern world about half a decade back. Day by day, the people in today’s Bangladesh increasingly and dependably keep having recourse to online platforms in order to avail themselves of a series of services available online without wasting time and effort. There appears a significant increase in the number of Bangladeshi internet and smart phone users. Hence there would emerge a potential future market for the online company. To be exact, Electronic commerce has modified the many traditional behaviors of the transaction and contributed to the economy with a suitable proportion. The internet and other forms of information and communication technology are advancing and becoming more reliable towards the people of the Capital city (Dhaka) in Bangladesh. There is a mix of good and bad experiences with online shopping in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) the present population of the Capital city (Dhaka) of Bangladesh is 22,478,000 in 2022. As a whole, it exemplifies a hopeful outlook on the future of internet retail (Parvin, et al 2007). From these different studies, it's clear that online business in Bangladesh has potential and that people are willing to buy online. As the number of online buyers continues to rise, ensuring that their needs are met has become a priority for business owners in this field. Some factors determining this kind of experience result in e-customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. So, there are certain factors in the formation of the scenes, a situation where the customers feel happy to buy something online. In the e-commerce industry some significant features such as E-service & product quality, Esystem

quality, E-information Quality, E-convenience (during purchase), E-trust, and Eshopping

experience have an impact on the E-customers’ experience and so on which result in customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction. A myriad of research studies are conducted across the globe to determine those factors. However, the problem arises when disruptive technological change transformatively occurs in Bangladesh. And such an altered situation culminates in a change in the levels of customer satisfaction, expectation, preference, test, and demand. In Bangladesh, a few research works have been done to measure the online shopping behavior and experience of e-customer. However, there has hardly been any research work done specifically in order to determine the factors such as E-service & product quality, E-system quality, E-information Quality, E-convenience (during purchase), E-trust, and E-shopping experience. The study entitled Factors Affecting Customers’ Satisfaction in Online Shopping: a Study on Capital City of Bangladesh has been conducted to bridge the gaps. The main aim of this research is to measure variables that influence consumer satisfaction with online shopping in the Capital City (Dhaka) of Bangladesh. This research work has been done with the following objectives. The salient objective of this study is to measure the significant factors or constructs concerning customer satisfaction with online shops in the capital city (Dhaka) of Bangladesh. The distinctive objectives are outlined below- to discover the key variables which influence the level of customer satisfaction who do shopping online, to investigate the significant relationship between selected independent factors and customer satisfaction in online shopping and to investigate the significant relationship between selected mediating variables and customer satisfaction in Eshopping.

The nature of this study is descriptive and the goal of the study is to describe consumer satisfaction with online shopping in Dhaka city of Bangladesh. The research is conclusive in the form of a Descriptive design test of the hypotheses. This research adopted a survey by questionnaire approach which contains the 6-Point Likert Scale questions regarding online shopping. Questionnaires have been distributed among 540 target respondents including students, Jobholders, Teachers, Businessman and other service holders among the eight (8) areas of Dhaka city of Bangladesh to gauge the satisfaction level of customers who go shopping online and who have internet access and have the experience of purchasing from online stores. A conceptual model has been constructed to describe the satisfaction that may be achieved through online Shopping. This model outlines the anticipated link between dependent and independent variables. A research model has been designed to examine the effect of E-service & product quality, E-system quality, E-information Quality, E-convenience, E-trust, and E-shopping experience on customer satisfaction towards online shopping in the Capital city (Dhaka) of Bangladesh. In this study, both primary and secondary data were gathered and evaluated. The raw data were acquired directly from customers in various areas of Bangladesh's capital city (Dhaka). With the aid of a systematic questionnaire, 480 online shoppers with previous experience making purchases online were surveyed. For this study, the findings from 480 surveys have been gathered and analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. Quantitative primary data have also been examined using Excel and Smart-PLS software in addition to SPSS (version 4.0). Descriptive statistics Frequency Distribution, Percentage, CFA, EFA, data and concept validity and reliability analysis, One-way ANOVA, Multiple Regression analysis, composite reliability, AVE, multicollinearity, and the PATH coefficient was calculated to determine the satisfaction-related parameters and their correlations to the total consumer satisfaction. According to the results of the SEM study, E-information quality (0.181), E-system quality (0.13), E-service & product quality (0.09), and E-convenience (0.139) have a positive and statistically significant effect on E-satisfaction. In addition, E-shopping experience as a mediating variable (0.041, 0.066, 0.058 and 0.043) has a substantial positive influence on Esatisfaction, and E-trust (0.141, 0.065, 0.032 and 0.096) has a mediating effect on E-satisfaction.

The findings emerging from the study serve as a benchmark for consumer satisfaction and online purchasing based on a variety of factors, including E-information Quality, E-system Quality, Eservice

& Product Quality, E-Convenience (During Purchase), E-Trust, and E-Shopping Experience. Certain suggestions and recommendations have been made for increasing customer satisfaction in online shopping. The E-Commerce market and economy of Bangladesh will benefit from this research. The report recommends that Bangladeshi e-retailers examine these aspects when formulating policies to increase customer satisfaction and develop their businesses inside the nation. There were some unavoidable limitations of the study. Firstly, this study only considers the buyers’ perspective. No data have been collected from the company perspective (owners of the e-store). Secondly, since the study chooses only 480 respondents from the Capital city (Dhaka) of Bangladesh as a sample, thus the views expressed may not accurately represent the view of all online consumers. This limits the generalizability of research conclusions only for this Capital city (Dhaka) not for the whole Dhaka district or all over the country. In addition, 480 responses are a fairly tiny sample size relative to the whole population. Thirdly, the scope of the study is only focused on the literate customers of the Capital city (Dhaka), with the geographic disparity of the sample location being a major contributor to this limitation. Fourthly, this study examines the level of customer satisfaction with online shopping based on some selected factors (six factors): E-convenience, E-system quality, E-information quality, E-service & product quality, E-shopping experience, and E-trust. However, there are other numerous factors influencing consumer satisfaction with online shopping, which may affect the accuracy of the results. Further study needs to carry out by focusing on other important factors like- advertising & offering, the reputation of the e-shop & brand, internet cost, transaction service charge (Bank service charge), customer behavior, beliefs, price, perceived control and so on to enlarge and enrich knowledge about gaining customer satisfaction in the e-commerce industry in Capital city (Dhaka) of Bangladesh. Due to limited budget and lack of financial support forced to limit the scope of this research project. In addition, an inquiry into the past research revealed that several additional elements also influence online customer happiness, such as after-sales service, refund opportunity, delivery service, order fulfillment, return policy, shipping price, brand value, bank service charge, etc. Thus, it is recommended that future research should include or change a number of additional essential elements that can bring benefits to e-commerce businesses and help to identify and affect online consumer satisfaction more effectively. In addition, bigger samples from individuals with more complex personalities may reveal different conclusions about the effect of each element in this model, hence the sample size of the research might be increased. Also, future research may be conducted in various districts or the entire country of Bangladesh to increase the trustworthiness of the results or duplicate the findings of this study to other ebusiness models.

Finally, this research only investigate the response of respondents in the Capital city (Dhaka) of Bangladesh who have online shopping experience but did not specify the e-stores from where they purchase. In this case, the amount of customers’ satisfaction may vary depending on the eservices of the online store. It may affect the accuracy of the result (findings).