Self Service Technology

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Nowadays, consumer is preferred to do groceries online shopping (GOS) because they can save time, cost and energy. This is because by doing GOS, they do not have to go to the hypermarket and find the groceries that they want but they just can use the internet to do online shopping for groceries. Besides, with the help of GOS, they can save more time to do other important things and they also can save time from visiting the hypermarket. They can do online shopping for groceries and households at their home and it will deliver to their home. GOS in Malaysia is still at infant stage since the area covered for this service is very small and much focusing in Klang Valley area. Currently there are 15 GOS service provider available in Malaysia (Makchik, 2015). Among this number, the only hypermarket involved in GOS is only Tesco. Thus, Tesco needs to know the level of acceptance of GOS of the consumers in Malaysia in order to dominate the GOS market in Malaysia.

1.1 Background of the Study

1.1.1 Self Service Technology (SST)

For the past decade, self-service technology (SST) has been touted as a solution for addressing the dilemma of how to increase the availability of a service while lowering costs (Collier, 2014). Self-service technology has been defined as any technological interface that allows customers to produce a service independent of direct service employee involvement (Meuter et al. 2000). However, like all other man-made inventions, SSTs sometimes do fail. There is proof of growing customer frustration while interacting with technology-based service delivery systems (Parasuraman, 2000). That is why since their introduction into the business world some two decades ago, SSTs have attracted a plethora of academic research (Agnihothri et al., 2002; Lee and Allaway, 2002; Joseph and Stone, 2003; Snellman and Vihtkari, 2003; Hsieh et al., 2012). The results of the study of Lee and Allaway (2002) for instance, postulate that customers evaluate technology-based service innovations more positively, if the said innovation has the characteristics of high predictability, controllability and outcome desirability. In categorizing types of SSTs, previous studies have labelled SSTs as “onsite” and “offsite” (Dabholkar and Bagozzi, 2002) or “internet” and “non-internet” (Forbes, 2008). This can be divided into two division: public self-service technology and private self-service technology (Collier, 2014). A public self-service technology is an SST located where social interaction can take place between the customer and other patrons during the self-service experience. Examples of public SSTs include kiosks, ATMs, and pay at the pump terminals. Conversely, private self-service technologies are located where a customer can interact with a self-service technology without interaction with others. Examples of private SSTs include the Internet, in-room hotel check-out, and interactive phone systems (Collier, 2014).

Early research in self-service shows that the degree of control a customer has in a transaction influences the overall perceived value of the experience (Lee and Allaway, 2002). Previous research has shown that consumers’ attitudes toward using self-service technology is heavily dependent on the type of SST (Curran and Meuter, 2005). Dimitriadis and Kyrezis (2011) also find that the type of transaction greatly influences attitudes towards different SSTs. Researchers (Wu and Wang, 2007; Tong, 2009) have proposed that customer perceived satisfaction is an essential determinant of success in electronic channels. In addition, Rod et al. (2009) found a direct relationship between automated service quality and customer satisfaction. Previous research on SSTs has listed a diverse group of constructs impacting customer attitudes (Curran et al., 2003; Dabholkar and Bagozzi, 2002; Yen, 2005) leading to more confusion than clarity on the subject.

Increases in labor costs and advances in technology encourage service firms to explore technology-based service options (Dabholkar, 1996), which enable customers to produce services independent of service employees. Banking sector is one of the main company that practice SST. The most common is ATM. Reasons for the introduction of ATMs in retail banking include lower labour cost, efficiency, greater consumer involvement, standardization of service delivery, customer satisfaction and loyalty (Al-Hawari and Ward, 2006; Khan, 2010; Kadir et al., 2011; Hsieh et al., 2012). Other researchers have noted that the provision of e-banking channels such as ATMs, internet and mobile banking has become a strategic necessity for retail banks to continue to offer value to customers (Gan et al., 2006; Rod et al., 2009; Hsieh et al., 2012). However, while recent studies have shown that automated channels actually lower customer satisfaction and loyalty thresholds due to lack of face-to-face contact with staff (Verhoef et al., 2007; Proenca and Rodrigues, 2011), others also contend that ATM service quality influences customer satisfaction and loyalty (Al-Hawari and Ward, 2006; Khan, 2010).

1.1.2 Hypermarket Retailing

Retail and distribution is the most consumer centric industry, which covers a wide spectrum of different businesses (Macdonald, 1994). One of the most popular type of retailing nowadays is hypermarket retailing. In general, the word hypermarket has still not been defined clearly. The definition for hypermarket is also being used for supermarket and shopping mall by some researchers (Hassan et. al., 2013). Basically, a hypermarket can be defined as a modern household retailing concept that sells a combination of department store merchandise and groceries in wide assortment, within a store of more than 2,500 square meters to over 8,000 square meters (Malaysian Magazines, 2003). Hypermarkets are a modern retailing concept that provide everything under one roof (Hassan et al, 2014). Hypermarkets provide a shopping environment that fulfil the needs for item variety, one stop shopping, good bargains, and comfort. The first hypermarket, named Carrefour, opened in France in 1963. The format has since spread to other European countries, South America, and Asia (Su & Chen, 2012). Most products in hypermarkets are based on fast moving consumable products, and the majority of departments in hypermarkets are selling basic household necessities, for example, food, vegetables, kitchen materials, and cleaning materials (Hassan et. al., 2013). Hypermarkets focus more on fast moving consumer products, especially basic household necessities (Hassan et al, 2013). Hypermarkets have emerged as one of the important retailing entities in most countries, offsetting traditional retail formats and supermarkets (Barros,