FACTOR AFFECTING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH E-RETAILERS’ LOGISTICS SERVICE IN VIETNAM LOGISTICS COMPANIES

The findings show that delivery service quality and staff servicequality have favorable effects on customer satisfaction, while communication servicequality and after-sales service quali

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI HONG HANH

FACTOR AFFECTING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION IN VIETNAMESE

LOGISTICS COMPANIES

MASTER’S THESIS

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

VIETNAM JAPAN UNIVERSITY

NGUYEN THI HONG HANH

FACTOR AFFECTING CUSTOMER SATISFACTION WITH E-RETAILERS’ LOGISTICS SERVICE IN VIETNAM

MAJOR: MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

This master thesis is a fantastic opportunity for me to see how I can utilize theknowledge and abilities I gained throughout my two years at university I'd like toexpress my gratitude to everyone who helped me accomplish this study

First of all, I wish to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors, Prof Dr.Motonari and Associate Prof Dr Phan Chi Anh who gave me valuable advice andorientation to complete my thesis This research would not have been completedwithout their guidance, patience, sympathy, motivation, and valuable feedback, all ofwhich have helped me enhance my study

I am grateful to Prof Dr Matsui Yoshiki, Prof Dr Kurata Hisashi and Prof Dr.Sadami Suzuki for their useful guidelines and motivation during seminars and theresearch process

I want to express my deepest thanks to Vietnam Japan University (VJU) - VietnamNational University (VNU), Hanoi, and Yokohama National University (YNU) hasprovided me with an excellent opportunity to expand my research knowledge andskills

I am also thankful to VJU officers, YNU IPO employees, all Professors, Japanesecompanies and Vietnamese companies, especially Ms Huong - MBA programassistant, those who motivate, encourage and support me to overcome difficult times toaccomplish the research

Last but not least, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my family, friendsand classmates for constantly motivating me and providing me with invaluable supportwhile I completed the challenging task of finishing the paper

Thank and Best

Regards,AuthorNguyen Thi Hong Hanh

Vietnam will become one of the world's most developed e-commerce markets Thistype of market and e-retailers will attract more customers In this market, however,there have been numerous challenges and issues The effects of logistics servicequality on customer satisfaction were investigated from the consumer's perspective inorder to identify the important logistical aspects affecting consumer satisfaction Thefindings of research identified four factors that influence positively customersatisfaction regarding the quality of logistics services in e-commerce in the order ofdescending strength The findings show that delivery service quality and staff servicequality have favorable effects on customer satisfaction, while communication servicequality and after-sales service quality have less impact In addition, there aresubstantial differences in demographic factors (including gender, age, income, andacademic level) regarding customer satisfaction in the context of Vietnam

Key words: customer satisfaction, e-commerce, e-retailer, service quality, logisticsservice, demographic, Vietnam

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF TABLES i

LIST OF FIGURES ii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Research Objective 3

1.3 Research Scope 3

1.4 Structure of research 3

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 Ecommerce and e-retailer 5

2.2 Service quality and logistics service quality 5

2.3 Customer satisfaction 9

2.4 Demographics in Vietnam and Covid pandemic 10

2.5 Concept model and research hypothesis 11

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 16

3.1 Research Methodology 16

3.2 Measurement Scale 16

3.3 Sample and Data collection 18

3.3.1 Sample size and Demographic information 18

3.3.2 Data collection 18

CHAPTER 4 DATA ANALYSIS 20

4.1 Description Analysis 20

4.2 Testing Scale Reliability 24

4.3 Correlation and Regression Analysis 25

4.4 Examining the Differences 29

CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION 31

5.1 Discussion 31

5.2 Recommendation and Implication 31

5.2.1 Delivery Service Quality 31

5.2.2 Staff Service Quality 32

5.2.3 Communication Service Quality 32

5.2.4 After-sale Service Quality 33

5.2.5 Demographic 33

5.3 Conclusion 34

5.4 Limitation and future research 34

REFERENCES 36

APPENDIX 40

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Measurement items for Questionnaire 16

Table 4.1 Official survey data 20

Table 4.2 Consumer shopping statistics 21

Table 4.3 The variable codes 22

Table 4.4 Descriptive statistics consists of 140 samples 22

Table 4.5 Cronbach's Alpha coefficient of the variable 24

Table 4.6 KMO and Bartlett’s Test of Independent Variables 25

Table 4.7 Correlation analysis 26

Table 4.8 Results of regression analysis 27

Table 4.9 Hypothesis-testing results 30

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Hypothesized Model of LSQ as a Process 7Figure 2.2: The model of e-commerce logistics service quality and customersatisfaction 12Figure 2.3: Research model 15

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

AS: After-sale service quality

CO: Communication service quality

CSR: Customer satisfaction

DE: Delivery service quality

LSQ: Logistics service quality

PDSQ: Physical distribution service's quality

SQ: Service quality

SS: Staff service quality

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Research Background

Vietnam is becoming a land of opportunity for multinational E-commerce enterprisesbecause the internet and smartphone are growing more prevalent in its youngpopulation with high penetration rate According to the Vietnam E-commerceAssociation (VECOM), the growth rate of e-commerce reached around 25% in 2017and this rate may remain unchanged in the next three years This has a direct impact onhabits and behaviors of the majority of consumers, particularly those who are busy,have chosen to use the online purchasing service from e-retailers The percentage ofInternet users that do their shopping online is 62%, which was reported by theMinistry of Industry and Trade's Vietnam E-Commerce and Information TechnologyAgency (VECITA) This information demonstrated that the e-commerce market inVietnam is attractive and has a lot of land for growth

There are many studies about logistics sector There are about 425 businessesproviding delivery services in Hanoi, in which, Vietnam Post Corporation (VietnamPost) is hired by 61% of online sales units; followed by Viettel Post Company (ViettelPost) with the rate of 25% (according Vietnam logistics report 2019) Althoughcertain successes have been achieved, the quality of logistics services at expressdelivery enterprises still has some shortcomings and limitations In addition, scholarshave recently focused more on the evolution of e-commerce and provided numerousvaluable results for society Despite its rapid growth, Vietnam's e-commerce businessstill confronts challenges Some main obstacles can be mentioned including: poorproduct quality, shipping services are weak, online payment professionalism islacking, as is data confidentiality, hard to order online and so on The majority of thesechallenges have led in a great deal of difficulty for the e-commerce field and for thesetype companies, such as Lazada, Tiki, Shopee, Sendo , because they haven't gained ahigh level of client's trust and satisfaction, which has resulted in a lack of growth As aresult, research into customer satisfaction with the quality of online services is critical.Consumer satisfaction is a subjective assessment of any result or experience relatedwith the buying of goods by a customer (Westbrook, 1980) Client satisfactiontypically leads to good effects for e-commerce enterprises (Zeithaml, 2000), forexample higher revenue, increased customer retention, and excellent word of mouth

Furthermore, Bhattacherjee (2001) debated that consumer satisfaction in B2C commerce is more difficult than in traditional shopping because clients are morebecoming more discerning, have the knowledge they require to make their ownjudgments, and expect their non-purchase must be met right away, flawlessly, and with

e-no cost In this field, it is vital for e-commerce companies to ke-now consumer needsand recognize the elements that influence client pleasure

Flow of information, flow of capital, and commercial flow is all easy in e-commerce,thanks to high-efficiency and fast information interaction technology, whereas offlinelogistics should be managed One of the most important supporting platforms, thelogistics platform not only serves as the final connection in e-commerce operations,but it also plays a crucial part in their outcome Through collaboration withprofessional logistics providers, ecommerce enterprises and shop owners supplyclients with crucial logistical services, and that is the only way for networkingbusinesses to effectively touch customers Consumer perception and behaviors aresignificantly influenced by this opportunity

In fact, consumers have not shown a high degree of trust and contentment with commerce and e-retailer business because the quality of logistics services and themassive network purchasing amount does not correspond The shopping experience ofcustomers has been significantly impacted by the primary barriers in logisticalservices Exploring whether components of logistics services have a substantial impact

e-on ce-onsumer pleasure is useful since it can aid in improving logistics service qualityand promoting ecommerce growth There has been an increase in interest amongacademics in studying the development of e-commerce, although studies likeKussusanti, Tjiptoherijanto, Halim & Furinto (2019) and He & Wang (2019) did notfocus on client pleasure or have a Vietnamese focus (Giao, 2020) Numerous studieshave investigated service quality issues, although they have primarily concentrated onthe online and logistics aspects In addition, Vietnamese context has been the subject

of few studies examining the relationship between the logistics aspects of e-commerceand customer satisfaction Therefore, the aim of this study is to focus on customersatisfaction about the quality of logistics services in the e-commerce field in Vietnam

This study focuses on investigating the two following targets:

+ To examine how the quality of communication service, delivery service, sales service, and staff service affect customer satisfaction in the e-commerce field

after-+ To examine the influence of different demographic factors on the connectionbetween the quality of logistical services and the level of satisfaction experienced bycustomers

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact of logistics service quality on thelevel of customer satisfaction in the e-commerce sector in Vietnam The study also is

to answer a pertinent research question: Which factors have significant impact oncustomer satisfaction in terms of logistics service quality on e-commerce activities inVietnamese settings

e-Vietnam e-commerce is growing rapidly so people of all ages and backgrounds arewelcome to take part in this study Vietnam is considered as a potential destination or apromising land for investors in the next coming year, which will lead to create morejobs, increase salary and higher education for million youngsters at golden ages, whoprefer to purchase online and require high quality of service This research isperformed around 7 months, from October 2021 to May 2022 The period of collectingdata from May 10th, 2022 to May 20th, 2022

1.4 Structure of research

This study is divided into five chapters, which are described in further detail below:

Chapter 1 Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to provide background information on the theoreticaland practical issues that motivated the investigation.

Chapter 2 Literature Review

This part will provide an outline regarding the theoretical importance of the presentstudy to suggest the hypothesis and framework model

Chapter 3 Research Methodology

An overview of the study process is provided in this section, as well as a look at thesampling and data gathering methods and scales

Chapter 4 Data analysis

In this chapter, the author will conduct an analysis of the results obtained from the datagathering

Chapter 5 Discussion and conclusion

The results of the investigation will be discussed, along with some suggestions, in thissection The author will discuss the restrictions that were placed on the research

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Ecommerce and e-retailer

E-commerce on the Internet entails a wide range of pre- and post-sales activities, such

as promoting, preserving business relationships, and improving businesscommunication, in addition to merely buying and selling electronically (Zwass, 1996).According to Ranganathan & Ganapathy (2002), one of many e-commerce models,business-to-consumer electronic commerce (e-retailer), is an efficient way forbusinesses and their customers to conduct online transactions using Internet-basedtechnologies The rise of e-retailer activity has necessitated a better understanding ofhow and why people purchase online So, e-retailer can improve consumer satisfaction

by offering a variety of benefits such as ease, personalized information, a wide range

of product information (Verhoef & Langerak, 2001; Park & Kim, 2003), as well as ahigh level of service quality and excellent logistics service

In e-commerce transactions, the significance of trust between buyers and unknownsuppliers has been confirmed by empirical study (Hoffman, Novak & Kalsbeek, 1999;Shankar, Sultan & Urban, 2002) Because online trust is such a crucial aspect of e-commerce and shop owners, hence it is linked to their success E-commerce merchantsand consumers may have differing perspectives on the role of assurance procedures.Therefore, understanding customer's needs, guaranteeing good service quality,responding quickly and solving issues effectively will lead to the success of e-retailers

2.2 Service quality and logistics service quality

Since Grönroos (1982) developed the notion of service quality, it has grown inimportance as a research issue in the literature on marketing Furthermore, aconceptual model known as the GAP model that was proposed by Parasuraman et al.(1985) and improved in their future efforts has mainly motivated research on servicequality (Parasuraman et al., 1988, 1991) Generally, "a comparison of consumerexpectations with actual service performance" can be used to determine service quality(Parasuraman et al., 1985, p 42)

Overall customer appraisals and opinions of the quality of online service delivery inthe internet shopping context are referred to as service quality (Santos, 2003) In terms

of online consumers, e-service quality has become a critical factor For onlineproviders, e-service quality can serve as a differentiator and encourage customers to

shop online Furthermore, past research on online buying has demonstrated that thequality of an e-service has an impact on consumer satisfaction and, as a result,indirectly promotes customer loyalty (Jain & Sareen 2015; Ludin & Cheng, 2014).Therefore, e-service quality is widely acknowledged as having a significant impact oncustomer satisfaction and online clients' purchase intentions.

Logistics services, that is defined by FIATA in 2004, is type of services relating to thecarriage (performed by multimodal transport or single-mode), in relation toconsolidating, transporting, managing, packaging, or distributing goods, orsupplementary and consulting services, including but not limited to customs and fiscalmatters, officially declared the goods, provision of goods insurance, and processing oracquisition of payment or goods documentations In the online buying environment,logistics services are inextricably linked to customers Customers' post-purchaseevaluations reveal how important logistics service quality is to them According tostudies, the quality of service has a significant impact on customer satisfaction.Logistics service and quality, as one of the most crucial linkages in online buying,have a favorable impact on consumer satisfaction As a result, providing thorough,punctual, and dependable logistics services can effectively boost customer satisfaction

On the basis of the duration and procedure of logistics services, Mentzer and his teamdeveloped an LSQ model in their study in 1999 and 2001 as the following figure withnine dimensions (personnel contact quality, order release quantities, informationquality, ordering procedures, order accuracy, order condition, order quality, timeliness,and order discrepancy handling):

Figure 2.1: Hypothesized Model of LSQ as a Process

This model was developed to investigate the link between the quality of logisticsservices in several aspects and examine how each one affects customer satisfaction invarious market segments Following studying logistics services after onlinetransactions, BianWenliang et al concluded that consumer pleasure was significantlyinfluenced by perceptions of logistics service aspects, indicating that enhancinglogistical quality of service is critical for B2C online shops to acquire market share.Although findings from the 1970s show that logistical service quality is hard toquantify, especially in the online purchasing context In the business-to-customersector, the availability of product, delivery time, and the quality of delivery are threeB2C characteristics that can be used to evaluate the physical distribution service'squality of supply chain (PDSQ, Mentzer et al., 1989) Third-party logistics (3PL)providers play an important role in e-commerce because they can either deliver theitems themselves or outsource it to companies that specialize in this type of service(Semeijn et al., 2005) Inadequate research on logistics' contribution to onlineshopping and the success of e-retailers chain has led to a lack of appreciation for itssignificance and functions (Semeijn et al., 2005; Xing et al., 2011) In addition to thebasic three pillars of existence, timing, and condition, an e-PDSQ evaluation formincludes return goods to evaluate how the e-retailers handles broken, unsuitable, ordefective products (Xing & Grant, 2006; Xing et al., 2011) If e-retailers are able to

verify the timeliness and comprehensiveness of after-sales approaches to address theseissues, this can aid online customers with better experience and increase their level ofcontentment.

In contrast, there are three result pillars to consider when evaluating PDSQ for B2Bpurposes: existence, timing, and condition (Bienstock et al., 1997) The PDSQframework was expanded by Mentzer et al (1999), who included numerous newelements to address the ordering and receiving processes Mentzer et al (2001) used a

US organization called DLA to further develop and evaluate the level of qualityoffered by their logistics service scales Mentzer et al (2001) developed a paradigm ofservice quality, which Collier and Bienstock (2006) used to develop a paradigm of e-service quality Instruments for measuring logistics service quality developed byMentzer et al (2001), which were examined by Rafiq and Jaafar (2007) in the context

of the UK 3PL business, and the instruments were determined to be valid and reliable There have been numerous studies on the subject of logistics service quality looking

at the connection between various quality components and how satisfied customers arewith such services Many scholars have emphasized the favorable outcome oflogistical service quality on consumer pleasure, recommending that enterprises shouldadapt their logistical services to the needs of diverse client segments (Mentzer et al.,2001) Customer pleasure is clearly, positively, and significantly influenced by thequality of logistics services (timing, personnel, information, and order quality),according to Saura et al (2008) Furthermore, Bienstock and Royne (2010) discoveredthat the quality of logistics services is a major influence in industrial clients'satisfaction with this type of service Communication has been introduced as the fourthfactor to emphasize the significance of order status information in the process ofelevating the quality of service (Emerson & Grimm, 1996) Personal interactionquality, for instance, has a beneficial impact on customer pleasure and buying habits(Bode et al., 2011) As a result, the quality of the personnel contact that is had withcustomers is an essential component of the employee–customer interface (Hartline &Ferrell 1996; Hartline et al 2000), and the perceptions of service quality are moreclosely related to the service procedure, which requires interpersonal contact, than theend result of the service (Surprenant & Solomon, 1987) Several studies showed thatthe good quality of staff service can aid clients with information that is both accurate

and up to date Consistent training for all employees could improve their manners,etiquette, and ability to communicate (Krishna Naik et al., 2010).

2.3 Customer satisfaction

There are many definitions of customer satisfaction Customer satisfaction wasdescribed by Chang et al (2009) as the customer's psychological reaction to his or herprevious experience with the comparison of expected and perceived performance.Satisfaction is defined as a person's feeling of fulfillment as a result of weighing thebenefits of the product against his or her aspirations (Kotler & Amstrong, 2004) Acustomer's level of satisfaction with goods or services is measured by their emotionalresponse to their experience with it, according to Bachelet (1995) Moreover,consumer satisfaction is the response of customers to their aspirations being satisfied(Oliver (1997) Therefore, satisfaction refers to a client's contentment with goods orservices that meets their requirements, encompassing both above and below the idealdegree of satisfaction (Giao, 2018; Giao, Vinh & Hoai, 2019)

Zeithaml et al., 1996; Olorunniwo et al., 2006; Kitapci et al., 2013) did numerousstudies on the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, andcustomer loyalty Delivering high-quality service promotes organizational brandingand offers exceptional customer experiences (Parasuraman et al., 1988), and according

to some studies, perceived service quality either has a positive impact on or is apredictor of customer pleasure (Lee et al., 2000 Tam, 2004; Pan et al., 2010).Additionally, customer pleasure has been proven in numerous studies to have directeffects, and possibly indirect ones as well, on the loyalty of clients (and consequentlyintentions of client's behavior), such as repurchase intent and recommendationsthrough word-of-mouth (Zeithaml et al., 1996; Cronin et al., 2000; Ladhari, 2009);positive behavior, in fact, has a significant effect on profits (Zeithaml et al., 1996,2000; Cronin et al., 2000; Ladhari, 2000) The criteria of service quality in thetraditional business setting (such as cleanliness and comfort) are no longer applicable

in the e-commerce scenario (Cox & Dale, 2001); therefore, more studies on thepredictors of service quality in the context of e-commerce and e-retailer setting isrequired Many studies have looked into service quality problems, but many havefocused on the online (Santos, 2003) and logistics (Mentzer et al., 1989) experiences

of clients independently Nonetheless, a limited number of studies have looked at the

connection between the various aspects of logistics service quality and client pleasurefrom the customer's perspective This research intended to bridge the gap andinvestigate from the customer's perspective in the following sections.

2.4 Demographics in Vietnam and Covid pandemic

Vietnam is currently ranked 15th in terms of total population and is one of the world's highest population densities because in the decades of the 1960s and 1970s saw a significant rise in Vietnam's overall population Despite the fact that more than half of Vietnamese citizens were under 35 years old in that year, the country's population is rapidly aging However, the population does not appear to be spread out uniformly across the nation.Economic activities such as farming and fishing have historically contributed

to a high population density in both the Red and Mekong river deltas

Due to the country's cultural preference for men, Vietnam has one of the most skewedgender ratios among Asian countries (according to Vietnam online) When looking atthe population pyramid of Vietnam in the year 2020, it is easy to see that the bottombars, which represent the group of toddlers, have a significantly higher proportion ofmales than females In general, despite the fact that Vietnam is reaping enormousbenefits as a direct result of the golden structure population, there are obstacles thatneed to be surmounted in Vietnam is making an effort to broaden its educationalsystem in light of the country's currently robust GDP growth rate The estimatedpercentage of the national budget allocated to education in 2012 was 6.3% Theprimary objective of education is "enhancing people's general knowledge, trainingquality human resources, cultivating and fostering talent "the relatively near future inorder to guarantee the country's continued sustainable growth Vietnamese businesshas benefited from its youthful workforce In the year 1999, there were 34% of people

in the population who were between the ages of 5 and 19 (according McKinsey'sreport) Because of this, 12 million people entered the workforce in the followingdecade Around a third of the country's growth occurred as a result of the labor forceexpanding at a 2.8% annual rate from 2000 to 2010 Recent years have seen a robustincrease in the proportion of the population that is of working age, which has been acontributing factor in Vietnam's ability to more than double its GDP per capita

There is no economic crisis posed by the COVID-19 pandemic; it is a health crisiswith economic implications only As we have seen, the most significant danger to the

economy is the failure to contain the virus The Vietnam government should need totake the lead in bolstering domestic demand through strategic public investment,concentrating on projects that contribute to rapid productivity growth, environmentalsustainability, and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), inorder to address this situation and create the conditions for the possibility of economicrecovery It will be necessary for the government to provide direct assistance to certainindustries, such as the transportation and hospitality industries, in order to put thesefields in a position where they can resume growing once the appropriate conditionshave been met At the height of the pandemic, the healthcare services field experiencedthe greatest rate of expansion Next, a positive growth rate in internal wholesale andretail and trade was recorded despite the presence of the covid pandemic due in part tothe contribution of online commerce.

2.5 Concept model and research hypothesis

Understanding the demands of the consumer has become crucial in a competitivemarket Therefore, businesses have shifted their focus from product to customer Manyscholars have either studied a product- and customer-oriented perspective or atechnological and client-oriented standpoint in order to discover the importantelements of the market and e-commerce Long and McMellon (2004) suggested that inorder to attract and keep clients, e-commerce merchants must have a firm grasp ofwhat online shoppers anticipate in terms of service quality According to Mentzer et al.(1991), the client is the aim of logistics service, so defining and evaluating logisticsservice quality in terms of consumer needs is a more equitable and practical approachfor decision makers Hence, the entire procedure from order placement to deliverycompletion, as well as after-sales service, is included in this study's logistics servicequality

The relationship between logistics service quality and customer satisfaction has beenthe topic of some research on logistics service quality Customer satisfaction isinfluenced by the quality of logistics services (timeliness, staff, information, and orderquality) (Saura et al., 2008) Many researchers studied logistics service quality (LSQ)constructs, and showed that they include nine dimensions which are: quality ofpersonnel contact, order quantities for release, quality of information, processes forordering, order precision, order situation, quality order, handling of order

discrepancies, and punctuality, according to Bienstock et al (1997), Mentzer et al.(2001), Ribbink et al (2004), Rafiq and Jaafar (2007), Bienstock and Royne (2010).Furthermore, in B2B situations, Mentzer et al., (1989) proposed that logistics servicequality (LSQ) should have nine characteristics that are: information quality, orderprocedure, order release number, timeliness, order correctness, order quality, productcondition, handling of errors, and communication between personnel Also, theyexamine the logical correlations between the nine variables and the level of customersatisfaction Moreover, Wei Hua and Zhou Jing (2015) has developed their LSQframework with four dimensions that are: communication service quality, deliveryservice quality, after-sale service quality and staff service quality as figure 2 below: Figure 2.2: The model of e-commerce logistics service quality and customer

satisfaction

Communication in traditional shopping will help merchants retain customers; while ininternet shopping, there is no face-to-face interaction, which leads to difficult todevelop relationships between e-retailers and customers This means that e-retailersmust communicate well with customers, then they can sell products to customers and

be successful in the e-market place Many researchers pointed out the incorporation ofcommunication service as one of the aspects of logistics service quality in thedevelopment of the LSQ demonstrates the significance of logistics service quality inrelation to the quality of communication service Nowadays, most e-retailers haveoffered clients communication services through various online service channels such

as email, mobile app, youtube, tiktok, social media and telephone These tools canassist e-retailers in anticipating and resolving difficulties that customers may encounterwhile purchasing, and enhancing the e-retailers' positive image with customers.Communication quality was linked to customer satisfaction, according to Mentzer 200,

and communication quality attracted the most attention from customers Thus, bettercommunication may improve customer satisfaction Hence, the following hypothesesare proposed:

H1: Communication service quality has a positive relationship with customersatisfaction

Quality of service can be defined as the sum of evaluations and judgements made bycustomers regarding the quality of e-service delivery in an online purchaseenvironment (Santos, 2003) Customers' decisions and behaviors may enable e-retailers to obtain a competitive edge by delivering real-time services, time-spaceeffect, and personalized information to customers (Luo & Seyedian, 2003) Deliveryservice provides an influence of time and space to logistics and facilitates the change

in ownership of the property of items in ecommerce Hence, of all the parts oflogistics, delivery services have the most direct interaction with their clients, and are atthe center of both the needs of customers and the logistical services provided.Delivering well-packed items whose amount and specifications are in agreement withthe order at the specified time and place is what delivery service entails Additionally,

it necessitates punctuality, the condition of the goods, and the accuracy of the order Ifcustomers receive the correct merchandise and there is no damage, they can avoid thehassle of interacting with service personnel to return the items In other words, thebetter the delivery service, the happier the clients are Another hypothesis is derivedfrom this:

H2: Delivery service quality has a positive relationship with customer satisfaction.When purchasing online, customers can only get a sense of the goods' information bylooking at photographs and reading descriptions So, high-quality data is expected toassist customers in comparing items, making educated decisions, and improvingtransaction security (Liu & Arnett, 2000; Park & Kim, 2003) It is, in reality,sometimes unavoidable for clients to get broken items or things that do not meet theirexpectations If e-retailers can plan ahead to solve difficulties and take the necessarysteps to deal with challenges that arise in a timely manner, they can demonstrate theirresponsibility to clients and make purchasing more secure for them Therefore, thisstudy expects that customers' buying experiences can be improved and their

satisfaction increased if after-sales measures are timely and comprehensive Thus, thefollowing hypotheses are proposed:

H3: The quality of after-sale service has a favorable correlation with clients' pleasure.Customer demands, growing competition, and the availability of complicated productsand procedures have all increased the demand for better customer service.Improvements in services are essential for survival today and in the future (Badler, H.2004) Customer pleasure and positive communications are dependent on the level ofservice provided (Lang, 2011) Furthermore, emotion input was identified as one of theservice quality characteristics by Parasuraman et al (1988), demonstrating theimportance of employee services Employees' assistance primarily mentions the image

of logistical personnel, attitude of customer service, customer attention, and proactiveassistance in resolving customer issues Logistics staff should have effective contactwith consumers in the online purchasing delivery procedure because the manner inwhich they interact with clients and the expressions they use can impact directly onclients' future actions Customer satisfaction will undoubtedly rise if logistics serviceofficers are able to offer service that is focused on the client, totally grasp the demands

of the customer, and deliver service that is friendly, respectful, welcoming, andcompassionate Therefore, the fourth hypotheses is proposed:

H4: The level of service provided by employees has a favorable correlation withclients' pleasure

Besides the aspects of logistical service quality, this study will check the influence ofdemographic elements (includes gender, age, income, academic level, and occupation)

on the level of client satisfaction The hypothesis regarding the influence ofdemographic factors on the connection between the quality of e-services and consumerpleasure as below:

H5a: There is a gender gap in the degree to which customers are satisfied with thequality of logistics services

H5b: There is an age gap in the degree to which customers are satisfied with thequality of logistics services

H5c: There is an income gap in the degree to which customers are satisfied with thequality of logistics services

H5d: There is an academic level gap in the degree to which customers are satisfiedwith the quality of logistics services.

H5e: There is an occupation gap in the degree to which customers are satisfied withthe quality of logistics services

Based on literature review and the developed premises, a conceptual framework aboute-retailers logistics service quality in Vietnam is showed as depicted in Figure 3:

Figure 2.3: Research model

Communication service quality

Customer Satisfaction

Delivery service qualityAfter-sale service quality

Gender (a)Age (b)Income (c)Education (d)Occupation (e)

Staff service quality

CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The conceptual model and measuring scales were developed primarily through aliterature review The information was gathered via an online questionnaire that wascreated in English and then translated into Vietnamese in the research The acquireddata was analyzed by quantitative method, using the software IBM SPSS StatisticsSubscription Trial Version 26

3.2 Measurement Scale

An extensive literature review was performed to create the instruments used tomeasure service quality and customer satisfaction, which was created in aquestionnaire (Table 1) The questionnaire was divided into two sections Firstly, therewere 22 questions in the first section of the inquiry into customers' perceptions oflogistics service quality, which included communication service quality, deliveryservice quality, after-sales service quality, and staff service quality Secondly, customersatisfaction with the e-retailers was measured using the three questions proposed byDevaraj et al (2002): "The online retailer’s information content meets my needs", "It

is possible for me to buy the product from the e-retailer", and "Overall, I am satisfiedwith this online experience" All construct questions were scored on a five-point Likertscale, with responses ranging from 1 strongly disagree to 5 strongly agree

Table 3.1 Measurement items for Questionnaire

Communication

service quality

(CO)

CO1 The e-commerce platform that I use rapidly replies to

consumer inquiries (Tiki, Shopee…)CO2 The e-retailer that I use rapidly replies to consumer inquiries

(shop owner, seller…)CO3 The e-commerce platform that I use communicates online

DE3 The e-retailer that I use delivers the correct commodities.DE4 Shipper delivers the correct commodities.

DE5 The e-retailer that I use delivers intact products

DE6 Shipper delivers intact productsDE7 The e-retailer that I use packed products properly and intact.After-sales

SS1 The e-commerce platform that I use has amiable calls

SS2 The e-retailer that I use has amiable calls

SS3 Shipper has amiable calls

SS4 Shipper contacts customers to deliver products and solve

problems related to signing to receiving

SS5 Shippers have good delivery methods

3.3 Sample and Data collection

3.3.1 Sample size and Demographic information

Identification of target responders, which includes online customers Hence, this studylooked into the perceptions of students, lectures, officers, managers, and freelancers onthe quality of logistical services and their satisfaction with e-retailers Hair et al.(1998) discovered that the lowest samples must be at least five times the total amount

of questionnaire items With a total of 25 questionnaire variables, a minimum of 125samples should be collected for a study of factors affecting customer satisfaction.After completing the questionnaire, the survey employed a basic random sampleprocedure to select 140 respondents at random, guaranteeing that all participants werevolunteers Information from respondents, including:

- Gender: Male/ Female

- Age: under 25 years old/ from 25 to 35 / from 36 years old or more

- Occupation: students / officers / managers / others

- Income: under 5 million VND / from 5 to 15 / from 16 million VND/ others

- Education: under university / from university or more

- E-retailers: Tiki / Shoppe / Lazada / Sendo / others

- Frequent: 1 - 2 times per month / 3 - 4 times per month / more than 4 times permonth / sometimes

- Familiar (how long have they used the online shopping): under 1 year / from 1

to 5 year / over 5 years