Systematic investigation of the logistics service quality of cross-border e-commerce: a mixed-methods perspective

Purpose This study explores the factors that characterize the logistics service quality (LSQ) of cross-border e-commerce and identifies the different relationships between these factors with respect to customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach The study applied a two-stage mixed-methods design. The first stage (Stage 1) was a qualitative study of 3,000 reviews from the Amazon China e-commerce platform. The second stage (Stage 2) included a quantitative study that analyzed survey data from 590 Chinese cross-border e-commerce customers using the Kano model. Findings Stage 1 involved developing a conceptual framework for the LSQ of cross-border e-commerce, including six dimensions: timeliness, safety, reliability, economy, personnel contact quality and information quality. In Stage 2, the study found that only reliability and personnel contact quality indicators are linearly related to customer satisfaction. Timeliness and the safety of packaging greatly contribute to customer satisfaction, but do not cause dissatisfaction when unfulfilled. Economics and information quality indicators, and the safety of goods, are basic requirements that tend to provoke customer dissatisfaction when unmet, but do not increase customer satisfaction when they are met. Originality/value This study is one of the first to construct a conceptual model of LSQ that applies to cross-border e-commerce and to identify the instrumental nature of various LSQ attributes and their impact on improved customer satisfaction.