Gilang Pratama Hafidz, Muhamad Khaidir Ali
Jurnal Indonesia Sosial Teknologi, Vol. 5, No. 7, July 2024 3438
Based on Iprice.co.id (2022), Shopee, Tokopedia, Bukalapak, Lazada and Blibli
became the five largest marketplace players in Indonesia in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Surprisingly, Indonesian online shoppers are not very loyal to one specific marketplace,
as evidenced by the significant changes in the number of visits by loyal customers. For
instance, during Q4 of 2020, Shopee emerged as the marketplace with the largest number
of yearly visitors, amounting to 129,320,800, with Tokopedia following closely behind
with 114,655,600 visitors. In Q4 2021, Shopee dropped to second place with an annual
visitor count of 138,776,700, while Tokopedia claimed the top spot with 157,443,300
visitors. This indicates that maintaining customer loyalty is crucial in the e-commerce
industry, both online and in traditional markets (Kim, Wang, & Roh, 2021).
In the e-commerce sector, developing customer loyalty online poses a difficult task
that demands that online businesspeople pay particular attention to move ahead of their
rivals (Ghali, 2021). Companies only obtain profits when customers have made an
average purchase of more than four times. However, how the company produces customer
e-loyalty itself remains a problematic and complex phenomenon. This is due to the
difficulty of switching to similar competitors, which is usually one click away.
Companies also need a lengthy process to build customer e-loyalty. (Kotler, Armstrong,
Harris, & He, 2020) stated that e-satisfaction is very crucial, and it is key for companies
to build profitable and sustainable relationships. Satisfied customers not only make repeat
purchases but also spread positive word-of-mouth and cultivate e-loyalty by buying
similar items. Moreover, for both established and emerging e-commerce industries, e-
service quality (e-SQ) plays a vital role in e-loyalty formation (Eryiğit & Fan, 2021).
However, online shoppers report concerns, anxiety, and risk perception, which puts
pressure on companies to enhance e-service quality (e-SQ) by improving its functionality
(utilitarian) and making it a more satisfying user experience (hedonic) (Shatnawi, 2019).
Therefore, business people must understand how consumers interpret e-SQ, and the
consequences companies receive (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Malhotra, 2005).
Numerous researches have examined the connections between e-SQ, customer e-
satisfaction, e-loyalty, and perceived value. This research showed that e-SQ is related to
customer e-satisfaction (Rodríguez, Villarreal, Valiño, & Blozis, 2020) and influenced by
their e-loyalty. According to preliminary research by (Brusch, Schwarz, & Schmitt,
2019), customer e-satisfaction relates to e-loyalty. It is also an e-SQ mediation against e-
loyalty. Customer perceived value strengthens their e-satisfaction and e-loyalty.
However, there are inconsistencies regarding the analysts’ views on the relationship
between both factors. Some preliminary research stated that there is no direct correlation
between e-SQ and customer e-loyalty, as opposed to several others. Furthermore, the
researchers who examined the factors that cause customer e-loyalty and customer e-
satisfaction usually concentrated only on utilitarian characteristics while ignoring hedonic
characteristics. The purchase decision process involves both rational and emotional
factors (Shatnawi, 2019). As a result, researchers have criticized the absence of hedonic
constructs from previous studies on e-service quality.