Abstract
The growth of online shopping has been a global trend driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. In South Africa the online retail sector recorded just over R30 billion worth of revenue in 2020 with the apparel sector (including footwear) worth R7 688 billion (MarketLine, 2021d:12). Designer footwear has become the ultimate status symbol for millennials and this consumer cohort is spending more money on clothing and footwear than any other consumer cohort in South Africa (Morency, 2018). Footwear is starting to feature as a prominent segment in the online purchases of apparel among millennials. South African retailers should, therefore, aim to understand and address the online needs of this consumer cohort in order to have a wider reach of this target audience. An understanding of the factors that influence millennials’ e-service experience and e-trust behaviour and their impact on e-satisfaction is of importance to South African retailers. Specifically considering that it will enable online retailers to retain loyal customers and increase overall retailer profitability in the long term.
The aim of the study is to determine the factors that influence millennial consumers’ e-satisfaction and e-loyalty when purchasing footwear online in Gauteng, South Africa. The study is descriptive in nature whereby the data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire and an online survey via Google Forms. The target population for the study was millennial consumers of online footwear and the sample unit were millennial consumers who purchased footwear online in Gauteng in the past 12 months. A total of 248 questionnaires were gathered and collated for statistical analysis. The statistical analysis used include factor analysis and structural equation modelling. The results of the statistical analysis revealed that e-service quality dimensions are an important element of online shopping that have a significant positive influence on the e-service experience of millennial consumers’ online purchase of footwear. Online e-service experience was found as an important element of online shopping that has a significant and positive relationship on the e-satisfaction of millennial consumers purchasing footwear online. In addition, e-satisfaction was also found to be an important element of online shopping that has a significant positive influence on the attitudinal loyalty (AL) of millennial consumers purchasing footwear online.
The findings from the study resulted in numerous recommendations and actionable strategies proposed to online retailers to improve their overall ability to sell footwear to millennials with increased success. The main recommendation for online retailers is i) to invest in website personalisation functionalities that create a unique digital experience for an online visitor, ii) to incorporate price comparison features over promotional seasons to entice consumers to purchase from their online store over their competitors and iii) implement voice search functionalities to create real-time voice user interfaces and use live video chat services to update consumers on their purchase and the status of their orders. From the results obtained in this study, various contributions were made to the field of marketing management and the retail industry in South Africa. From an academic perspective, the current study confirmed that e-satisfaction has a significant impact on and positive relationship with AL and not behavioural loyalty (BL). From an industry perspective, the insights obtained through this study will inspire industry professionals and marketing managers to secure new and unique ways to improve e-service experience for millennials when purchasing footwear online. Through such an approach, the e-satisfaction experience of millennials when purchasing footwear online can be enhanced, enabling retailers to adjust their business strategies accordingly in South Africa to suit this demanding consumer segment.