MCDM based e-commerce consumer decision support tool

E-commerce is currently one of the most rapidly growing branches of the economy. Increasing competition in the market for this field creates the need for continuous improvement of service quality and the need to stand out from others. More and more consumers are taking advantage of the opportunity to purchase products and services over the Internet. Many products on the market and the existence of many criteria to be taken into account create difficulties in making an objective decision when choosing the most appropriate product.

Multi-criteria decision-making methods (MCDMs) are designed to help make the most appropriate decision in multi-criteria problems. Literature studies have proven that they are a widely used and suitable tool to assist choice when purchasing products and services. The possibility of their application in online sales as a consumer decision support tool seems promising both to meet customers’ growing needs and strengthen the position of online outlets in the market for these services.

This paper presents an approach involving applying four MCDM methods TOPSIS, VIKOR, PROMETHEE II and COMET, in solving the multi-criteria problem of selecting the most favourable model of headphones. The obtained results confirm the usefulness and adequacy of the selected set of methods in choosing purchased products and devices and indicate the great potential of MCDM methods in the field of online commerce and services.