Consumer Preference in Multivendor E-Commerce Marketplaces: An Exploratory Perspective
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
E-Commerce Multivendor Marketplaces offer a variety of products to the consumer all sold on a single digital platform; while multivendor e-commerce marketplaces enhance accessibility, variety, and convenience, they also introduce significant complexity into the consumer decision-making process. The consumers often undergo heightened awareness, the benefits offered, many a times become a bane to completing the purchase. Consumers face issues such as information overload, quality validation, trust and most importantly the decision regarding vendor selection from among the many. For the sellers unless they understand and address these issues, acquiring and retention of customers looks grim. This paper brings to the fore an exploratory context regarding consumer preference in vendor selection when buying on e-commerce multivendor marketplaces.
Downloads
References
Oberlo. (n.d.). Global ecommerce sales growth (2022–2028) [Updated Oct 2024]. https://www.oberlo.com/statistics/global-ecommerce-sales-growth
Grand View Research. (n.d.). E-commerce market size and share | Industry report, 2033. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/e-commerce-market
Vyas, S. K., Vyas, L., Singh, S., & Joshi, M. (2023). Future of e-commerce: A robust review. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, 697–710. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7663-6_66
Dolfen, P., Einav, L., Klenow, P. J., Klopack, B., Levin, J. D., Levin, L., & Best, W. (2022). Assessing the gains from e-commerce. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, 15(1), 342–370. https://doi.org/10.1257/mac.20210049
Vo, T. H. G., Cho, J., Le, K. H., & Luong, D. B. (2022). Establishing customer behavior through e-commerce websites in newly emerging markets. Marketing and Management of Innovations, 13(4), 85–93. https://doi.org/10.21272/mmi.2022.4-09
Giang, J. (2024, October 22). The importance of consumer decision-making process for businesses. Trustify Review. https://trustifyreview.app/consumer-decision-making-process/
Mihajlovic, M., Savic, A., & Sarcevic, V. (2025). Stages in the consumer buying decision-making process. MEST Journal, 13(2), 166–176. https://doi.org/10.12709/mest.13.13.02.14
Goodman, M. (2024, September 12). Consumer decision-making process: The 5 key stages. Okendo. https://okendo.io/resources/blog/consumer-decision-making-process/
Mishra, O. (2018). Criteria for evaluation of alternatives in online consumer decision-making process. ELK Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Retail Management, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.31511/eapjmrm.2018v09i04005
Chevalier, J. A., & Mayzlin, D. (2006). The effect of word of mouth on sales: Online book reviews. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(3), 345–354. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkr.43.3.345
Loop. (n.d.). Post-purchase evaluation in buyer’s journey. https://www.loopreturns.com/blog/post-purchase-evaluation-in-buyers-journey/
Graff, J., Sophonthummapharn, K., & Parida, V. (2012). Post-purchase cognitive dissonance: Evidence from the mobile phone market. International Journal of Technology Marketing, 7(1), 32. https://doi.org/10.1504/ijtmkt.2012.046433
Li, Z. (2022). Research on post-purchase behaviour tendency of product quality to customers in fast-selling markets. Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences, 8(1), 2639–2652. https://doi.org/10.2478/amns.2021.2.00244
Kim, J. (2018). Market entry strategy for a digital platform provider. Baltic Journal of Management, 13(3), 390–406. https://doi.org/10.1108/bjm-07-2017-0228
Gawer, A., & Cusumano, M. A. (2013). Industry platforms and ecosystem innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 31(3), 417–433. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12105
Häubl, G., & Trifts, V. (2000). Consumer decision making in online shopping environments: The effects of interactive decision aids. Marketing Science, 19(1), 4–21. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.19.1.4.15178
Punj, G. (2012). Consumer decision making on the web: A theoretical analysis and research guidelines. Psychology & Marketing, 29(10), 791–803. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20564
Takhire, M., & Joorshari, M. T. (2015). Evaluation of effective factors on customer decision-making process in the online environment. International Journal of Managing Public Sector Information and Communication Technologies, 6(3), 1–11.
Islam, M. S., Ali, M., & Azizzadeh, F. (2024). Consumer decision-making processes in digital environments—A psychological perspective. Applied Psychology Research, 3(1), 1362. https://doi.org/10.59400/apr.v3i1.1362
Teo, T. S. H., & Yeong, Y. D. (2003). Assessing the consumer decision process in the digital marketplace. Omega, 31(5), 349–363. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0483(03)00055-0
Wang, Q., Cui, X., Huang, L., & Dai, Y. (2016). Seller reputation or product presentation? An empirical investigation from cue utilization perspective. International Journal of Information Management, 36(3), 271–283. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2015.12.006
Das, G., Mukherjee, A., & Smith, R. J. (2018). The perfect fit: The moderating role of selling cues on hedonic and utilitarian product types. Journal of Retailing, 94(2), 203–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2017.12.002
Standing, S., Standing, C., & Love, P. E. D. (2010). A review of research on e-marketplaces 1997–2008. Decision Support Systems, 49(1), 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dss.2009.12.008
Wang, S., Zheng, S., Xu, L., Li, D., & Meng, H. (2008). A literature review of electronic marketplace research: Themes, theories, and an integrative framework. Information Systems Frontiers, 10(5), 555–571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-008-9115-2
Prihastomo, Y., Meyliana, Hidayanto, A. N., & Prabowo, H. (2018). The key success factors in e-marketplace implementation: A systematic literature review. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information Management and Technology (pp. 443–448). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICIMTech.2018.8528189
Kamuangu, P. (2021). Journal of Economics, Finance and Accounting Studies. https://doi.org/10.32996/jefas
Malone, T., & Lusk, J. L. (2018). Mitigating choice overload: An experiment in the U.S. beer market. Journal of Wine Economics, 14(1), 48–70. https://doi.org/10.1017/jwe.2018.34
Gupta, S., Kushwaha, P., Badhera, U., Chatterjee, P., & Gonzalez, E. D. S. (2023). Identification of benefits, challenges, and pathways in e-commerce industries: An integrated two-phase decision-making model. Sustainable Operations and Computers, 4, 200–218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.susoc.2023.08.005
Cui, S. (2025). Increased (platform) competition reduces (seller) competition. Journal of Industrial Economics, 73(2), 285–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/joie.12409
Waqas, M., Rafiq, S., & Wu, J. (2023). Online shopping: A systematic review of customers’ perceived benefits and challenges during COVID-19 pandemic. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, 74(7–8), 2655–2679. https://doi.org/10.1108/GKMC-04-2023-0129
Jaakkola, E. (2020). Designing conceptual articles: Four approaches. AMS Review, 10(1–2), 18–26.
Akerlof, G. A. (1970). The market for “lemons”: Quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84(3), 488–500.
Spence, M. (1973). Job market signaling. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87(3), 355–374.
Schwartz, B. (2004). The paradox of choice: Why more is less. HarperCollins.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
All articles published in our journal are licensed under CC-BY 4.0, which permits authors to retain copyright of their work. This license allows for unrestricted use, sharing, and reproduction of the articles, provided that proper credit is given to the original authors and the source.