Influence of Delivery Persons on Customer Satisfaction in Online Commerce

At the time of parcel delivery, personal contact can arise between the customer and the parcel service employee. During this encounter, the person delivering the parcel can have a significant influence on the customer's perception. Through their appearance, empathy, and respectful handling of the parcels, they leave a positive impression on the customer. This master's thesis examines the influence of the parcel courier on customer satisfaction, loyalty, and customer word of mouth. With the help of the SERVQUAL model and its five dimensions “reliability”, “responsiveness”, “assurance”, “tangibility” and “empathy”, the perception of service quality is examined. An online questionnaire with closed questions was created to collect the data. A total of 112 people from Austria responded to the survey. The results of the study, which was conducted using SmartPLS, showed that the dimensions “responsiveness” and “tangibility” have a positive influence on satisfaction with parcel couriers. Furthermore, it was shown that customer satisfaction leads to loyalty and positive word of mouth recommendations. The study therefore also underlines the importance of long-term customer relationships for parcel services.

As the participants in this survey are mainly from Upper Austria and the sample size is limited, the results cannot be considered representative. Future studies could benefit from a possible adaptation of the questions of the SERVQUAL model. As practical advice for managers of parcel services, we can point out the importance of customer-friendly behavior and the corresponding training of employees.