GENERIC STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS-TO-CONSUMERE-COMMERCE

摘要

Business-to-consumer e-commerce transactions continue to increase rapidly while many sites are shuttingrndown. This situation prompts both researchers and managers to wonder what e-commerce strategies retailersrnare applying to compete successfully. The current study used an email and Web-based survey of 458 retailersrnfrom two major portals to identify the benefits of their e-commerce sites. A cluster analysis identified threerntypes of e-commerce retailer strategies: Cost Leadership, Differentiation, and Differentiation with Integration.rnFurther analysis showed that Cost Leadership retailers outperformed Differentiation retailers in both e-commercernand overall firm performance. Differentiation retailers outperformed Differentiation with Integrationrnretailers. Researchers can use the strategies identified here as variables in their future work. Managers mightrnreconsider their own strategies in light of these findings.