A CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF CUSTOMER NEEDS IN THE E-COMMERCE ENVIRONMENT USING THE EMPATHY MAP TOOL

Abstract

In an era of rapid e-commerce development and growing market competition, the ability to empathetically identify customer needs has become a crucial factor in building a competitive advantage - especially in sensitive industries such as children's products. The aim of this article is to conduct a conceptual analysis of customer needs in the e-commerce environment using the empathy map tool. The analysis is based on real customer opinions from a Polish online store specializing in children's products. A total of 120 customer statements were collected from opinion-forming platforms (Google Reviews, Ceneo.pl) and social media comments (Facebook) and subjected to qualitative content analysis. Based on this data, a customer profile (persona) and an empathy map were developed to capture key needs, concerns, frustrations, and positive experiences associated with online shopping. The findings revealed recurring issues in areas such as delivery time, quality of customer service, clarity of return procedures, and discrepancies between marketing communication and the actual offer. The developed empathy map served as a starting point for formulating practical recommendations for online stores, aimed at improving service quality and building customer trust and loyalty. The article highlights the value of the empathy map as a tool for supporting customer experience (CX) management, particularly in the context of micro and small enterprises that lack advanced analytical systems.