A qualitative case study on the elements that affect the creation of a satisfying e-commerce user experience
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School of Business |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2020
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
International Design Business Management
Language
en
Pages
103
Series
Abstract
Globalization, technological development, and digitalization have shaped the world and its business possibilities significantly. Anyone with an internet connection can order products from the vast selection of items from across the world directly from their sofa. The convenience of e-commerce has increased its popularity, which has resulted in its growth each year. The COVID-19-pandemic increased the significance of e-commerce by encouraging many people to try purchasing items online for the first time. With the increasing popularity of e-commerce, the industry is becoming more and more competitive. The challenge of online store owners is to retain the customers that land on their site because the potential customer can switch a store in just a few clicks. Thus, the success and growth of the online store depend on their ability to achieve customer satisfaction and loyalty. Studies showed that these benefits can be achieved if the user experience of the online store has been satisfying. Hence this thesis aims to increase understanding of what is a satisfying e-commerce user experience and particularly how the users perceive the e-commerce experiences currently. The research was conducted as a qualitative study with semi-structured interviews and user observations by answering the question: “What kinds of elements affect the creation of a satisfying e-commerce user experience?” The findings were explored based on previous theoretical findings. Based on the gathered data, the findings were divided into four main elements: aesthetics, entertainment, functionality, and information. The findings indicated that even though online stores have a lot of possibilities to be creative in the digital environment, the stores are not fully utilizing this potential. The users experienced that online stores are not significantly different from one another and the stores were not perceived as particularly enjoyable or fun. In addition, the research revealed that several users experienced shopping online yet too difficult and would need more information to support their decision-making for it to be completely satisfying. In conclusion, this thesis pointed out that there are still a lot of possibilities to improve the e-commerce user experience. The satisfaction of users could be improved by creating user experiences that are unique and even easier to use, and by providing tools to find relevant items while providing quality and diverse information.Description
Thesis advisor
Eloranta, VilleKeywords
e-commerce, user experience, user experience design, human-computer-interaction