An Evaluation of Cyber-Bookshops: The WebQual Method

TLDR

WebQual 2.0, originally developed for information‑intensive sites, has been extended to evaluate e‑commerce sites from a customer‑voice perspective, a method rooted in quality‑function deployment. This study applies WebQual 2.0 to assess the quality of Internet bookshop websites. The authors analyze service‑quality literature, then use WebQual to gauge customer perceptions of three UK‑based online bookshops, collecting data via a student questionnaire in a natural experiment. Results reveal substantial variation among the bookshop sites, and the study discusses the implications for e‑commerce, offering conclusions and future research directions. Keywords: online bookshop, quality‑function deployment, SERVQUAL, WebQual.

Abstract

Abstract This paper describes the use of WebQual 2.0 to evaluate Internet bookshop Web sites. Initially applied in the domain of information-intensive Web sites, WebQual 2.0 has been extended and refined to encompass an interaction-quality perspective on e-commerce Web sites. Its development draws on an analysis of the service-quality literature. WebQual assesses Web site quality from the "voice of the customer" perspective, an approach adopted in quality-function deployment. It is used to assess customer perceptions of on-line bookshops, one of the more mature areas of Internet commerce. Three UK-based Internet bookshops are assessed using a natural experiment. Data are collected from students using an on-line questionnaire. Analysis of the results demonstrates considerable variations in the offerings of the Web sites. The findings and their implications for e-commerce are discussed, and conclusions and directions for further research are provided. Keywords: ON-LINE BOOKSHOP QUALITY-FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT SERVQUAL WEBQUAL