How to regain lost customers in electronic commerce: An empirical study from China

Abstract

Electronic commerce has experienced rapid growth in last years. B2C electronic commerce often has a high customer loss rate. To regain the lost customers is a major concern of online vendors. This paper investigates the strategies for winning back lost customers (price promotion and relationship investment) through field experiment on a major B2C website in China. Research findings indicate the two strategies are effective in regaining lost customers online, depending on the customers’ prior relationship time with the vendor, and lapse time from the vendor. The study has contribution to electronic commerce and has practical implications for B2C vendors on customer management.