Master thesis: The Impact of E-Logistics Service Encounters on Customer Repurchase Intention in E-Commerce Retail

The exponential growth of e-commerce in Vietnam, fueled by increasing internet penetration and digitalization, has profoundly reshaped the retail landscape and heightened consumer expectations for efficient delivery and service quality. This surge underscores the critical importance of robust e-logistics operations in ensuring customer satisfaction and fostering repurchase behavior. Despite this burgeoning significance, existing research often overlooks the nuanced impact of specific e-logistics service encounters on customer outcomes within emerging markets. Traditional studies tend to focus on general service dimensions or developed economies, leaving a notable gap in understanding how diverse service touchpoints influence customer loyalty in dynamic contexts like Vietnam. To address this, the current study systematically investigates how various e-logistics service encounter dimensions shape customer value perceptions and satisfaction, ultimately influencing repurchase intentions through the lens of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework.

Academics and researchers in e-commerce, logistics, and marketing; e-commerce businesses and logistics service providers, particularly those operating in emerging markets like Vietnam.

This master's graduation project comprehensively examines the impact of multidimensional e-logistics service encounters on customer repurchase intention within Vietnam's rapidly expanding e-commerce sector. Acknowledging the critical role of e-logistics quality in shaping customer satisfaction and loyalty, the study employs the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework in conjunction with Service Encounter Theory. Specifically, e-logistics service encounters (information, logistics function, service result, reverse logistics, and staff encounters) are conceptualized as stimuli, influencing perceived value and customer satisfaction as organismic responses, which in turn drive repurchase intention as the behavioral response. The research methodology involved analyzing 304 survey responses from e-commerce users in Vietnam, utilizing structural equation modeling (SmartPLS 3). Key findings reveal that perceived value acts as a crucial mediator, bridging the gap between service encounters and subsequent customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. Notably, logistics function and information quality encounters exert the strongest indirect positive effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty by enhancing perceived value. While service result encounters also contribute to satisfaction, their impact is comparatively weaker. Conversely, reverse logistics and staff encounters were found to have minimal influence on perceived value or direct behavioral outcomes. These results offer a refined conceptualization of e-logistics service quality and provide valuable practical insights for e-commerce firms and logistics providers operating in Vietnam. The study emphasizes the strategic importance of prioritizing high-impact touchpoints, particularly those related to delivery reliability and information transparency, to effectively boost perceived value and customer retention. Furthermore, it discusses limitations and suggests avenues for future research, including longitudinal and cross-cultural studies, to deepen understanding in this evolving field.