Electronic commerce in the retail sector: from exploratory channel to strategic necessity

Citation

Doherty, N.F. and Ellis-Chadwick, F. (2006), "Electronic commerce in the retail sector: from exploratory channel to strategic necessity", International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 34 No. 4/5. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijrdm.2006.08934daa.001

Electronic commerce in the retail sector: from exploratory channel to strategic necessity

Neil F. DohertySenior Lecturer in Information Systems in the Business School at Loughborough University. In addition to the uptake and application of electronic commerce, his research interests include the interaction between organisational issues and technical factors in information systems development, understanding the reasons for failures of information systems projects, strategic information systems planning and information security. Neil is currently an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Electronic Business Research. He has had papers published in a range of academic journals, including: European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Information Resources Management Journal, Journal of Marketing Management; IEEE Transactions in Engineering Management, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management; Journal of End User Computing, Information Technology & People, Behaviour & IT and Information & Management.

Fiona Ellis-ChadwickLecturer in Marketing and Retail Management, in the Business School at Loughborough University. In addition to studying the strategic use of internet technologies within retailing her research interests include factors affecting internet adoption and the impact of digital technologies on the development of marketing strategies. She has had papers published in Journal of Business Research, the European Journal of Marketing, the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, and Internet Research: Electronic Networking Applications and Policy, among others.

Electronic commerce in the retail sector: from exploratory channel to strategic necessity

Whilst the internet is already exerting a considerable impact upon society, in general, it is in the arena of trade and commerce that the internet’s most significant influence has been witnessed. As global competition intensifies, an organization’s effective operational performance, and competitive positioning have become more dependent upon its ability to successfully exploit information technologies. Against this background, the internet, through its high levels of connectivity, reach and adoption, has probably become the most influential of the vast array of technologies available to businesses. It has significantly impacted upon most sectors of the economy, including defence, banking, manufacturing, healthcare and education. However, the sector that has undoubtedly experienced the most dramatic changes as a result of the internet revolution has been retailing. Whilst the initial forays of most retailers into the world of web-based retailing could be classed as small scale, exploratory and tentative, the success of the internet over the past ten years has placed electronic commerce at the centre of their strategic thinking. Our goal for this special issue of the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management is to deliver a coherent collection of papers that provide significant new insights into how the retail sector is responding to the challenges posed by the internet and how individual retail organisations are integrating it into their corporate strategies.

The call for papers attracted a very encouraging and enthusiastic response of 50 prospective research papers, from all corners of the globe. Following a very rigorous two-phase review process, these 50 papers were filtered down to the ten that ultimately form this double special edition. Together these papers provide a variety of perspectives and viewpoints as they try to illuminate different aspects of this complex and highly dynamic area of academic discourse. Ranging from careful statistical analyses, which deliver new insights into the behaviour of customers and retailers, through to thought-provoking conceptual contributions, each of the following papers makes an important contribution to the on-going debate:

1. 1.

   “Comparing e-service performance across industry sectors: drivers of overall satisfaction in online retailing” – Trabold et al. seek to identify determinants of online retailer success by exploring performance within different activity sectors and find the sector a company operates in can have a variable impact.

2. 2.

   “The provision of delivery information online: a missed opportunity” – Page-Thomas et al. empirically explore the significance and impact of delivery information to online consumer purchasing.

3. 3.

   “Developing a framework for measuring physical distribution service quality of multi-channel and ‘pure player’ internet retailers” – Xing and Grant present a conceptual work focusing on the strategic importance of online customer service to retailers and consider how retailers might use this to create competitive advantage.

4. 4.

   “Cross-industry analysis of consumer assessments of internet retailers’ Service Performances” – Tih and Ennis: compare service performance of retailers operating in different activity sectors using a structured questionnaire. In so doing, they offer practical information for retailers on how to improve service performance.

5. 5.

   “E-shopping lovers and fearful conservatives: a market segmentation analysis” – Allred et al. identify new approaches towards segmenting online shoppers and in doing so they identify drivers and barriers which motivate individuals to engage in online transactions.

Second issue

1. 1.

   “Why consumers hesitate to shop online: an experimental choice analysis of grocery shopping and the role of delivery fees” – Huang and Oppewal investigate the impact of delivery charges and other situational factors which affect online shoppers channel choice.

2. 2.

   “The UK grocery business: towards a sustainable model for virtual markets” – Hackney et al. evaluate retailers’ e-commerce strategies using Tescos as a central case company. The paper presents a framework based on complex adaptive systems approach.

3. 3.

   “E-commerce adoption in the retail sector: empirical insights” – Nikolaeva proposes a conceptual model of determinants of retailer adoption of e-commerce and in doing so offers insight into the impact of external influences on adoption behaviour.

4. 4.

   “Applying the technology acceptance model to the online retailing of financial services” – McKechnie et al. find the key drivers of the extent of consumer use of internet-based financial services, supported by the findings of telephone survey.

5. 5.

   “New perspectives in internet retailing: a review and strategic critique of the field” – Doherty and Ellis-Chadwick provide a comprehensive review of a decade of papers covering internet retailing and also provide a synthesis of these contributions to identify the gaps in the literature and the strategic implications of this body of knowledge.

Finally, the guest editors would like to thank Professor John Fernie – the General Editor of the IJRDM, and Richard Whitfield, the Managing Editor of the IJRDM, for all the help, support and guidance they provided throughout the preparation for, and publication of, this special edition. Moreover, it is important to acknowledge the very substantial contribution of the fifty plus individuals who help out by reviewing papers for us.