Technology Adoption in E-Commerce: What Drives Customer Loyalty in Mobile Delivery Apps
- Hypr Delivery
- 11 hours ago
- 5 min read
Research shows that simple app design drives trust and customer retention in delivery platforms.
Concerning delivery options, consumers today face a paradox of choice. E-commerce is booming, and there are more delivery service providers now than ever before. This leaves companies with the challenge of attracting customers in a highly competitive market.
The answer, it seems, may lie with accessible technology.
In a Nutshell:
The technology acceptance model (TAM) explains how users accept new technology and whether they will continue using it in the future.
Technology that is simple to use is generally viewed as more useful.
Research in logistics and e-commerce shows that trust is a primary factor in whether customers will continue using mobile delivery apps.
The online shopping experience, whether retail or fast food, is an increasingly mobile one.
Mobile apps serve as a nexus between customers and delivery service providers, as well as the retailers that they work with. As such, companies are incentivized to craft a positive digital experience, asking the question: What leads customers to choose one mobile app over another?
The technology acceptance model (TAM), a theoretical framework widely applied in e-commerce and logistics, may be useful here.
Don’t panic. Theory isn’t as complicated as you may think. In fact, we intend to show how theoretical ideas are backed by real-life evidence and can help grow your business.
We’ll break down TAM into its core ideas and highlight key research findings in e-commerce and logistics spaces.
Theory Is for Everyone
The word theory probably conjures images of stuffy academics sitting at their desks, mulling over grandiose ideas that seem inaccessible to the average person. However, this frame of mind limits our understanding of theory and its practical use in everyday business operations.
In fact, theory is quite approachable and can help companies make informed decisions, particularly when it comes to anticipating customer behavior.
With that in mind, it may be helpful to define theory as an explanation — or an attempt to understand a pattern of behavior.
Take TAM, for example: It explains why and under what conditions users accept new technology. Understanding these factors can help delivery service providers and retailers develop accessible platforms that facilitate trust and lead to repeat business.
What Is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)?
TAM is a theory that can help us understand how and under what conditions users adopt technology, such as a mobile app.
Researchers Fred Davis and Richard Bagozzi developed the model in 1989 as digital technology was not only becoming more complex but more personalized. Only a decade later, more than half of American households would own a personal computer.
Davis and Bagozzi, drawing from the theory of reasoned action, set out to model how initial impressions of technology influence user behavior. To examine this relationship, they developed a model with two primary factors — perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use.
Perceived usefulness is the extent that users believe technology will improve their lives.
Perceived ease-of-use, on the other hand, deals with the simplicity of technology. Both Davis and Bagozzi agreed that if a technology is too difficult to use, its widespread adoption is unlikely.
Users are less likely to adopt — and continue using — technology if it is too complicated.
Like any theory, TAM has been challenged and adapted over the years to develop more nuanced understandings of user behavior. A main criticism of this model, for example, is that it does not consider the emotional factors of user decision making, only rational ones.
Despite this, the theory has a wide variety of applications across many fields, including e-commerce and logistics. A more recent adoption of the theory explores trust and perceived risk as variables in technology adoption.
Trust, Technology Adoption, and Mobile Delivery
Now that we know the basics of TAM, let’s explore how researchers have applied the theory in mobile commerce and logistics and what that may mean for industry leaders.
Understanding TAM can help companies develop a competitive edge.
Research in recent years has found that the functionality and convenience of delivery apps can shape consumer trust and subsequently, loyalty.
A study published in the Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management emphasized the importance of the TAM factors discussed above — perceived usefulness and perceived ease-of-use. Its findings suggest that users are more likely to trust mobile food delivery apps when they are simple, accessible, and personalized.
Similarly, survey research in Seoul, South Korea, found trust to be an important factor in the technology adoption of food delivery apps. Respondents in the study viewed these apps as more useful when they were easier to navigate, which in turn led to greater trust and future use intentions.
Easy-to-navigate mobile delivery apps earn the trust of consumers and encourage future use.
Findings from both studies stress the importance of a strong user interface — the digital space where people interact with these services. For a mobile delivery app, this could mean designing pages or screens that are easy to navigate.
Information quality can also impact a user’s experience. Both studies encourage delivery services to use open and informative practices when engaging with customers, like explaining how personal information will be used.
The convenience of an app is certainly important, but research reveals that trust is crucial to the delivery experience, especially when it comes to customer loyalty.
How Technology Adoption Shapes the Delivery Experience
With so much of the delivery experience occurring online, it’s worth examining how TAM relates to customer satisfaction.
A study published last year in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services proposed that customer satisfaction is an experience that builds over time — from the moment a customer places an order to when it arrives at their doorstep.
The researchers divide the delivery experience into online and offline components, with both customer satisfaction and technology adoption in mind.
They found that online experiences tended to shape offline ones, affecting all stages of the delivery process. In other words, if a user encounters an issue during the online stage of an order, they are likely to be dissatisfied with the physical delivery as well.
Customer satisfaction online shapes the entire delivery experience.
Like loyalty, satisfaction directly relates to a customer’s intention to keep using a mobile delivery service. According to research, industry professionals should consider the entire delivery experience.
Final Thoughts
Technology adoption is a critical part of consumer behavior in logistics and e-commerce. Without understanding why users choose some mobile apps over others, businesses are operating in the dark.
Luckily, TAM is your flashlight.
As more mobile apps get in the game, retailers and delivery service providers will need to develop competitive strategies for earning customer loyalty. Designing an intuitive mobile app seems like a good place to start.