Inspirational Shopping: Improving Online Shopping Experience Through Recommendation System Based on Personal Values

Online shopping has revolutionized retailing with low price and convenience since its arrival and is threatening brick-and- mortar stores. However, there is a shopping paradox. According to a recent survey, however, 65% of online shoppers still prefer to go to physical shops. Having too many choices is one of the reasons why online shops are less favored. Customer satisfaction decreases when they face too many options because it leads to high expectation, anxiety, and regret at their decisions. Shoppers suffer from a question; “Is this the right one for me?” Through investigating furniture and home decor shopping, this research has found that shoppers make a purchase decision not only based on external facts like the price but also based on their inner voices, such as personal values. This study has explored the opportunity and envisioned an e-commerce service with a recommendation model to raise customer satisfaction with the shopping experience. The model utilizes laddering technique and means-end chain model to identify an individual customer’s personal values. By answering the recommendation quiz, customers are suggested relevant products from various brands that align with them. The objective of this project is to assist customers to make more confident decisions and give online retailers a tool to improve the shopping experience for their customers.