Exploring the drivers, scope and perceived success of e-commerce strategies in the UK retail sector

摘要

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore empirically the relationship between the scope ofrnthe e-commerce strategies currently being deployed by the largest and most influential UK-basedrnretailers, the drivers for their adoption, and perhaps most importantly the degree to which they arernperceived to be successful.rnDesign/methodology/approach - The objectives of this research were addressed by using arnquantitative research strategy, based on a postal questionnaire survey of the UK's largest retailers.rnThe research strategy produced a wealth of primary data, which were thoroughly analysed using arnvariety of multivariate, statistical techniques.rnFindings - The study's findings suggest that the scope of the retailers' e-commerce strategies isrnstrongly associated with the strength of management support behind the strategy and its perceivedrnstrategic fit. By contrast, the perceived success of their strategies is most strongly associated with therndegree to which the retailer has deployed a portfolio of appropriate resources and capabilities, inrnsupport of its online operations.rnResearch limitations/implications - The major limitation associated with the study is withrnrespect to the rather disappointing response rate of 10 per cent. However, this level of response isrnsimilar to many previous surveys in this domain, and it is probably not surprising, given therncommercially sensitive nature of the data. Moreover, the extensive phone-based follow-up ofrnnon-respondents has provided an important reassurance that any resultant bias is likely to have only arnmodest effect on the results.rnPractical implications - The findings highlight that, despite their close relationship, the scope ofrnan e-commerce strategy and its success are rather different entities, and therefore the factors that affectrnthe scope of adoption cannot be relied on to deliver success. In particular, retailer managers mustrnrecognise that, while their support and commitment may well be the impetus necessary to deliver arnwide-ranging strategy, its ultimate success may be dependent on their ability to deploy a suitablernportfolio of resources and capabilities.rnOriginality/value - The study makes a major contribution in a number of ways. It provides one ofrnthe first attempts to measure the relationship between the drivers, scope and perceived success ofrne-commerce strategies, and, in so doing, it delivers an objective comparison between those factors thatrnaffect the scope and the success of e-commerce strategies. Moreover, important new measures ofrne-commerce scope and success have been developed and deployed.