{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T01:56:46Z","timestamp":1760234206811,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":53,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,19]],"date-time":"2021-04-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1618790400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004406","name":"Universitatea Transilvania din Brasov","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["No. 48 from 11\/10\/2018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["No. 48 from 11\/10\/2018"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004406","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JTAER"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In the digital age, retailers face umpteen challenges, finding it increasingly difficult to fulfil the customer requirements. Studying the most trusted online stores in Romania, the authors aimed to identify the opportunities and the challenges for retailers in the connected consumer\u2019 journey, analyzing the page load speed of the in-between touchpoints in the pre-check-out phase on smartphones. In this regard, comparative analysis and content analysis were performed, taking into consideration eight performance indicators, namely, first content paint, first input delay, largest contentful paint, cumulative layout shift, performance score, speed index, time to interactive, and total blocking time. Three platforms were used to run the tests, the generated data allowing the identification of the necessary enhancements to ensure a continuous consumer journey. The study revealed that the selected in-between touchpoints need major improvements to provide a satisfying consumer experience on a smartphone. The scientific contribution of this article consists of presenting 14 opportunities designed for retailers. By implementing them, for every 0.1 s saved, the conversion rate can increase by 8% due to emotional mitigation with technological performance improvements. The page speed shapes the customer journey, the retailers gaining the users\u2019 trust by avoiding a long waiting time between the touchpoints.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jtaer16050077","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,19]],"date-time":"2021-04-19T11:21:38Z","timestamp":1618831298000},"page":"1369-1389","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":7,"title":["How Does Mobile Page Speed Shape in-between Touchpoints in the Customer Journey? A Research Regarding the Most Trusted Retailers in Romania"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2838-6155","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eliza","family":"Nichifor","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Bra\u015fov, Colina Universit\u0103\u021bii Street no. 1, Building A, 500068 Bra\u015fov, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5238-5545","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Radu Constantin","family":"Lix\u0103ndroiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Bra\u015fov, Colina Universit\u0103\u021bii Street no. 1, Building A, 500068 Bra\u015fov, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0608-8045","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ioana Bianca","family":"Chi\u021bu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Bra\u015fov, Colina Universit\u0103\u021bii Street no. 1, Building A, 500068 Bra\u015fov, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9636-3660","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriel","family":"Br\u0103tucu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Bra\u015fov, Colina Universit\u0103\u021bii Street no. 1, Building A, 500068 Bra\u015fov, Romania"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2215-7100","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Adrian","family":"Trifan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Economic Sciences and Business Administration, Transilvania University of Bra\u015fov, Colina Universit\u0103\u021bii Street no. 1, Building A, 500068 Bra\u015fov, Romania"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"304","DOI":"10.1108\/IJRDM-04-2017-0097","article-title":"Mapping touchpoint exposure in retailing: Implications for developing an omnichannel customer experience","volume":"46","author":"Ieva","year":"2018","journal-title":"IJRDM"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2621","DOI":"10.1108\/EJM-07-2019-0555","article-title":"Introducing the socialbot: A novel touchpoint along the young adult customer journey","volume":"54","author":"Goode","year":"2020","journal-title":"Eur. 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