Beyond the first bite: understanding how online experience shapes user loyalty in the mobile food app market

In the competitive landscape of mobile food ordering applications (MFOA) in India, the primary focus is enhancing the customer experience to mirror or even exceed their offline meal acquisition experiences. Existing research underscores the pivotal role of a superior online experience in driving business success. Against the backdrop of a dearth of studies addressing online customer experience (OCE), our current research seeks to gain insight into its state and its implications for attitudes and intentions. Specifically, we investigate the impact of OCE on the continued usage intentions (CUI) of new MFOA users. This study not only sheds light on the relationship between OCE and CUI but also presents a fresh configuration of OCE, addressing its varied conceptualization. Furthermore, drawing on data collected from over 400 first-time users of MFOA, our findings reveal that e-satisfaction and e-trust act as full mediators in influencing CUI. Finally, the study also suggests that e-trust mediates the effect of e-satisfaction on the CUI of MFOA users. Our research contributes to our understanding of OCE by specifically highlighting the experiences and outcomes of first-time users of MFOAs. Practitioners should employ strategies including personalized orientation and data gathering, location-based services, in-app messaging, push notifications and gamification techniques to increase OCE and drive CUI.