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.