Marketers must consider that past experiences will be the foundation of future evaluation. 

“Customers Interaction with an organisation’s website creates opportunities for positive experiences that can lead to long-term relationship building.”

(Rose and Hair, 2011)

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, I do love online shopping (when I have money). Online shopping especially in retail can be so risky and can be one BIG guess!

This image below is the framework for understanding the concepts which motivate and influence online consumers.

A) ANTECEDENTS

First stage of the framework is the antecedents to the online experience, which consists of 8 important theories. These can have a detrimental effect on the consumer choosing to proceed or not, with a digital offer.

A) ANTECEDENTS

1.Information processing (IP): Information processing is important. It forms how a customer deals with the data and information available, which in turn will impact their future behaviour

My experience: I type in my search engine ‘summer dresses’, numerous websites come up and I start to process all the information. I click on the ICONIC tab as it attracts me with their star rating and I start to read through their website and process the home page and also the entire web page.

2. Perceived ease of use: The easier a website is to use the higher chance the consumer will stick around and have a positive online experience.

My experience: Iconic was easy to use, whether on my laptop or through their app on my phone.  It had minimal text, clear categories, high definition pictures and their latest promotion all visually seen on their homepage. Any specific item I was interested in had all the information and details provided. It was simple, easy on the eye and very welcoming.

3. Perceived usefulness: This describes how useful the website is to the customer and if the digital offer fits the consumers daily life (for my case, shopping).

My experience: Iconic was instantly already useful. It presented a broad selection of dresses suited to my occasion.

4. Perceived benefits: If the customer feel some sort of benefit by engaging in their digital offer it will achieve future support.

My experience: Iconic had numerous sales and offers benefiting me. Joining and creating a FREE account with Iconic made me feel special & that I was getting some sort of reward. Having special features and modifications with an account in comparison to, was not as rewarding.  Also $20 off my first order definitely encouraged me to proceed.

5. Perceived control: It is important that no matter what technical level each consumer is at that they feel confident and in control.

My experience: I refined Iconics Clothing category, so my search would be more specific and tailored to what I was looking for. This immediately made me feel more in control of the search and reduced my search from 10,500 items to 200! Also, Iconic saving my account information made it much easier to come and go when I wanted.

6. Skill: As a customer’s ability to use technology and engage in the website increases, the more comfortable and skilled they will become.

My experience: Iconic website is HUGE and I am the least IT savvy skilled person you could know of! However, I did manage to navigate my way around their website and persuade me to keep shopping and spend more money $$

7. Trust and risk: Consumers must feel a sense of trust, otherwise they will not continue to use or purchase from it. Trust is an important part of the overall online positive experience.

My experience: Iconic is a major online shop and through word of mouth (my friends) I did already trust the website. Iconic did confirm that with star rating in search engine and the option to use Paypal. If troubles occur, the option to chat to a customer support representative increases the trust and takes that risk away. What I am trying to say is that I have seen some dodgey and untrustworthy online retail stores and I know Iconic wasn’t one!

8. Enjoyment: This is the overall outcome for a positive online experience.

My experience: Iconics website and services made the transaction of my product quick and easy. So, yes my overall outcome was a positive online experience and was very enjoyable!

B) EXPERIENCE

Antecedents are the building blocks to the customers overall experience which translates into consequences. Positive experience that enable businesses to retain customers and maximise customer satisfaction. (D. Chaffey, E. Chadwick., 2016) These 8 experiences affected my cognitive state as it influenced how I thought and felt about using Iconic and the overall online experience I had. I have a strong understanding about the website and what I am doing in terms of usefulness, trustworthiness and customer benefits. I am super happy and satisfied with the major online shop, Iconic.

C) CONSEQUENCES

Customer Satisfaction Antecedents reflect my own personal online experience and as a result will shape the final action I take which is the consequence.  Online shopping on Iconic was satisfactory and I had no trouble. The benefits, ease of use, usefulness, reviews, delivery timeframe, accurate picture and description all met my expectations and made it a very enjoyable online experience. 10/10!

Re-purchase Intention Alternatively, If the dress did not fit I would have returned the dress through there 30 day return policy to exchange the dress for the better size and Iconic would have shipped it back within 3-5 business days. From my previous experience using Iconic to purchase the first dress has encouraged me to continue to use their easy services because of their established brand name and ease of delivery! It is not time consuming or annoying to exchange or repurchase from Iconic because my past experiences were positive. Shopping is addictive, fun and too easy to spend money!

REFERENCES

Chaffey, D., Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2016). Digital Marketing. 6th,Montreuil: Pearson.

Rose, S., Clark, M., Samouel, P., & Hair, N. (2012). Online customer experience in e-retailing: an empirical model of antecedents and outcomes. Journal of Retailing, 88(2), 308-322. Chicago

The Iconic. (2019). Clothes Online | Shoes Online | THE ICONIC. [online] Available at: https://www.theiconic.com.au/ [Accessed 21 Aug. 2019].