TITLE:
The Impact of Website Characteristics on E-Commerce Website Success: An Empirical Study from the Egyptian Consumer Perspective
AUTHORS:
Mostafa Ahmed Shalash
KEYWORDS:
E-Commerce, Website Evaluation, Website Success, Content Quality, Customer Reviews
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Business and Management,
Vol.14 No.5,
August
26,
2026
ABSTRACT: With increasing competition and evolving e-consumer expectations, it is crucial to understand the factors that contribute to e-commerce websites’ success in attracting and retaining customers. The most experienced e-commerce companies are beginning to realize that the key determinants of success or failure are not simply an online presence or offering products at a low price, but also possessing a high-quality website that meets consumers’ needs. Purpose: 1) Assessing the impact of website characteristics on the success of e-commerce websites. Website characteristics considered in this study include ease of use, customer reviews, customer service, security and privacy, content quality, visual appeal, and customization. 2) Developing a comprehensive and measurable model to provide straightforward criteria that ensure e-commerce website success through a deeper understanding of the influence of website characteristics. Originality/Value: Despite the rapid growth in internet penetration and the rise of e-commerce companies, to the author’s knowledge, this is the first empirical study to assess the impact of website characteristics on the success of e-commerce websites from the perspective of Egyptian consumers. Consequently, this research aims to fill this gap by proposing a new model to help e-commerce websites attract more customers and increase traffic. Design/Methodology/Approach: A quantitative approach was employed to examine the impact of website characteristics on the success of e-commerce websites. Data were collected through a questionnaire adapted from previous studies. The research sample comprised 400 consumers from Alexandria city, Egypt, who constantly purchase their needs from e-commerce platforms, in order to identify the characteristics that attract them to these websites. Process of Data Analysis: The process of data analysis includes validity testing, reliability testing, normality testing, factor analysis, sampling adequacy, the absence of common method bias, descriptive data analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. All these analyses were carried out using the SPSS software. Findings: The findings of this study showed that ease of use, content quality, and security & privacy are highly significant factors that directly influence e-commerce website success from the perspective of the Egyptian consumer. Research Limitations: This study was conducted in Alexandria city. Future research studies may extend the currently studied geographical dimensions and examine more governorates to increase the generalizability of the findings. Furthermore, while the proposed model largely explains the role of website characteristics in the success of e-commerce sites, it is important to investigate other influencing factors. Future studies could explore such factors that may contribute to a more comprehensive model. Practical Implications: The findings of this study can assist e-marketing managers in formulating their marketing strategies that improve their websites’ performance. Additionally, they help them to pay more attention to the factors that increase consumer satisfaction, strengthen competitive advantage, and ultimately contribute to the overall success of e-commerce websites.