Digital and Mobile Commerce

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Paper Number

1110

Paper Type

short

Description

Online retailers assume that customers expect speedy delivery. To ensure that customers receive at least part of the order sooner, online retailers use split deliveries, of smaller quantities, spread out over different dates. Yet this approach ignores that split deliveries may increase customers’ hassle costs, because they have to receive multiple deliveries, which can harm important customer outcomes. Two experiments examine the research question of how delivery speed and split (vs. consolidated) deliveries interactively affect customers’ order completion, satisfaction, and loyalty. Study 1 shows that, in the case of split deliveries, faster delivery does not positively affect these outcomes. Study 2 shows that a faster delivery positively affects these outcomes only if it also is consolidated; split deliveries generally have a negative effect. These results question the common practice of splitting deliveries; instead, they show that this practice can backfire. We discuss the implications of these findings for IS research.

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22-Digital

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Dec 12th, 12:00 AM

When Fast Means More Hassle: Online Deliveries Revisited

Online retailers assume that customers expect speedy delivery. To ensure that customers receive at least part of the order sooner, online retailers use split deliveries, of smaller quantities, spread out over different dates. Yet this approach ignores that split deliveries may increase customers’ hassle costs, because they have to receive multiple deliveries, which can harm important customer outcomes. Two experiments examine the research question of how delivery speed and split (vs. consolidated) deliveries interactively affect customers’ order completion, satisfaction, and loyalty. Study 1 shows that, in the case of split deliveries, faster delivery does not positively affect these outcomes. Study 2 shows that a faster delivery positively affects these outcomes only if it also is consolidated; split deliveries generally have a negative effect. These results question the common practice of splitting deliveries; instead, they show that this practice can backfire. We discuss the implications of these findings for IS research.

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