Performance of women entrepreneurs in digital platforms: a SERVQUAL approach

This study investigates and assesses how women entrepreneurs from West Bengal adapt to and perform on digital platforms for business, using feedback gathered from female customers to gauge satisfaction levels, address complaints, and consider suggestions. The investigation draws data from a survey encompassing 250 respondents (customers and women entrepreneurs), covering both rural and urban areas of West Bengal. It utilizes the SERVQUAL framework to explore how service quality influences the operational success of women entrepreneurs in digital environments. A SERVQUAL Model based on 5 dimensions (Tangibility, Reliability, Responsiveness, Trust, and Empathy) has been designed to identify the key attributes of service quality in online/digital marketing of women entrepreneurs based on customer satisfaction. The weighted average SERVQUAL score for each of the 5 selected service quality dimensions has been calculated by multiplying the unweighted score with the weighted score (mean out of 100) for Gap-3 and Gap-5. The study exhibits that despite the overall negative gap scores, the positive weighted scores in responsiveness, trust, and empathy offer hope for women entrepreneurs. The findings underscore the importance of enhancing service quality as a pathway to achieving competitive advantage, fostering customer satisfaction, and, ultimately, ensuring the sustainable growth of women-led digital businesses. By analysing the gap between customer expectations and perceived service quality, this research identifies critical areas for improvement and strategic enhancement. This study contributes to the academic literature on entrepreneurship and service quality and informs practical strategies for empowering women entrepreneurs in digital platforms.