Measuring Customer Experience in E-Retail

Paulo Botelho Pires (), Beatriz Martins Perestrelo and José Duarte Santos
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Paulo Botelho Pires: CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic of Porto, Rua Jaime Lopes Amorim, s/n, S. Mamede de Infesta, 4465-004 Porto, Portugal
Beatriz Martins Perestrelo: ISCAP, Polytechnic of Porto, Rua Jaime Lopes Amorim, s/n, S. Mamede de Infesta, 4465-004 Porto, Portugal
José Duarte Santos: CEOS.PP, ISCAP, Polytechnic of Porto, Rua Jaime Lopes Amorim, s/n, S. Mamede de Infesta, 4465-004 Porto, Portugal

Administrative Sciences, 2025, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-33

Abstract: In digital retail, where competition intensifies and customer expectations evolve rapidly, understanding the interplay among customer experience metrics is critical for strategic decision-making. Despite widespread adoption of feedback programmes, practitioners struggle to interpret how improvements in transactional ease, experiential quality, and satisfaction propagate across the customer journey to influence retention and growth. This study addresses this gap by examining the interrelations among Customer Effort Score (CES), Customer Experience (CX), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Customer Loyalty Index (CLI), and Net Promoter Score (NPS) within a unified framework. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey of recent online shoppers yielded 359 valid responses; the model was estimated with PLS-SEM. All hypothesised direct paths were positive and significant, evidencing a cascade from effort through experience and satisfaction to repurchase and recommendation intentions. Mediation analyses confirmed that CES and CX affect loyalty and advocacy indirectly via CSAT. Out-of-sample prediction validated predictive relevance. The study integrates transactional and relational indicators, establishes the empirical utility of single-item measures within PLS-SEM, and advances a portfolio view of CX metrics. Managerially, effort reduction and experience enhancement emerge as high-leverage interventions: improvements cascade through satisfaction to elevate loyalty and advocacy in digital retail.

Keywords: customer effort score; customer experience; customer satisfaction; customer loyalty index; net promoter score; online retail; E-commerce; PLS-SEM (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: L M M0 M1 M10 M11 M12 M14 M15 M16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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