How can the Web help build customer relationships? An empirical study on e-tailing

The Web is increasingly being viewed as a tool and place to enhance customer relationship. In this paper we defined a model to analyze the Web characteristics that aid in building customer relationships and then used this model to examine consumer relationship building mechanisms in online retailing (e-tailing). Through a survey of 177 shoppers who had bought books, CDs, or DVDs online, the causal model was validated using LISREL; 13 out of 14 hypotheses were supported. This research has contributed to both theory and practice by providing a validated model to analyze online consumer relationship building and suggesting mechanisms to help e-tailers focus on online consumer relationship management.