Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

The continuing importance of service fulfilment 
Some important differences do exist in the customer service experience when shopping 
online – for example, those buyers with the technological competence to shop online are 
attracted to a wider range of products and the opportunity to shop at any time from home, 
as well as lower prices than traditional retail. Nonetheless, despite these unique characteris-
tics of online purchasing, service fulfilment and delivery reliability remain the most impor-
tant aspects of service quality and the strongest predictor of customer satisfaction online. 
Offering better-quality service can enable online and offline retailers to achieve significant 
competitive advantage, charge higher prices and benefit from customer recommendations. 
Service fulfilment covers a range of customer service issues. For instance, Parasuraman 
et al . (1988) emphasise reliability, responsiveness and willingness to help customers as the 
critical elements in customer service. On the other hand, Warrington and Eastlick (2003)
highlight product range and pricing as vital when dealing with physical products, while 
Dabholkar et al . (1996) propose product quality and availability as the most important 
issues. Pragmatically, these issues concern the delivery of the core product or service of 
the nature described and at the time promised to the customer. In Internet commerce, this 
basic mission remains the foundation for service delivery. This includes accurately display-
ing and describing products, the required items being in stock, delivery of what is ordered 
when promised and accurate billing. When problems occur, responding to customer issues 
effectively is also increasingly important.
Change at the customer–company interface 
The clearest difference in online versus offline service is the technology mediated nature of the 
customer–company interface. Traditional service quality issues related to human-to-human 
* 
The section of this chapter concerning e-service has been contributed by Dr Niall C. Piercy, University of Bath, 
UK, from unpublished sources. 

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