Online Meal delivery services: Perception of service quality and delivery speed among Chinese consumers

n China, the online purchases of meals grow rapidly. The online ordering and meal delivery services allow a busy urban consumer for a specific selection at a convenient time. This paper examines the satisfaction of consumers with the overall quality of service provided by the meal delivering companies and the speed of delivery. The level of satisfaction with the overall meal delivery service provides insights that permit improvement of service quality and its essential attribute, the delivery speed. The study uses the sample of 554 respondents from all but two China’s provinces collected between June 3 and July 30, 2017. A pilot test was administered among students of a major urban university. Data were collected through an online survey administered by the reputable commercial company. The structured questionnaire contained questions probing for views on several aspects of meal delivery services and requested a respondent to share the information about socio-demographic characteristics. The scale applied in the posed questions allowed the ordered logit to estimate the relationships. Results show, among others, that the average meal price and expectations of food safety were important to consumer perception of service quality, while the type of meal type of meal mattered with regard to speed delivers