An Online Consumer Purchase Decision Cycle

Abstract

This chapter presents the overall consumer purchase decision cycle and investigates the issues that affect Web users from e-shop selection to product delivery and final assessment of the shopping experience. This process has been divided into three successive stages: outside the e-shop, inside the e-shop, and after sales. Each stage is analyzed on the basis of customer states and transition conditions, while special focus is set on abandonment factors. The chapter aims to provide a thorough insight to e-shop features that ensure customer satisfaction and those that may result in further enhancement of online shopping. The ultimate objective is to provide guidelines for designing successful e-shops and clarify success and failure factors.