Title: Ranking of critical success factors for online retailing by TOPSIS approach

Authors: Shaina Singh; Rajesh Kumar Singh; Nitin Seth

Addresses: Gautam Buddha University, Greater Noida, India ' Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India ' Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Delhi, India

Abstract: In present context of globalised markets, customers have become very choosy in terms of product selection. Along with low cost, on time delivery, convenience of giving order and purchasing has become very important for consumers. Therefore on line retailing is being very popular now a day. To work in such kind of environment, organisations need to be very careful in developing their processes and distribution channels. There are many factors, which influence success of online retailing. Based on literature review and discussion with industry professionals ten factors have been identified. These are on time delivery, inventory management, order tracking, less shipping cost, network optimisation, effective portal system, attractive offers on products, customer friendly policies, after sales service and advertisement through social media. These factors are ranked based on technique for order preferences by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) approach. Based on analysis, it is recommended that on line retailers should focus on timely delivery, attractive offers on products and effective portal system to influence new customers.

Keywords: e-retailing; service quality; CSFs; customer retention; TOPSIS.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPQM.2017.084460

International Journal of Productivity and Quality Management, 2017 Vol.21 No.3, pp.359 - 374

Received: 01 Jun 2015
Accepted: 05 Sep 2015

Published online: 07 Jun 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article