e‐TAILING (1st ed.)

Citation

Hirsch, I. (2005), "e‐TAILING (1st ed.)", Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 357-358. https://doi.org/10.1108/13612020510610471

It is a brave decision to write a book (“old economy”) concerning a very fast moving and rapidly developing subject like “e‐Retailing”. During writing you never know if all the good ideas you have on one day eventually are obsolete on the next day; or even worse will there be anyone who buys my book the day after tomorrow! In short: you should do it?

In 12 sections and on nearly 300 pages Dennis et al. are guiding readers who do not have to have any special knowledge of e‐Business or the web as a prerequisite. The reader gets a sound impression of the world wide web and the driving forces behind the curtains. More than 50 figures and nearly 20 tables (e.g. with accurate and new data, samples and market‐research information) illustrate the most important statements and facilitate the understanding of complex aspects.

For those who are interested in only one single topic 11 index‐pages are particularly helpful in finding quick answers and avoiding a time‐consuming reading of the whole chapter. Readers who want to participate in e‐Business expert talks (or who like to pretend that they are an expert by using special items) will find a “Glossary” with 84 words and abbreviations (from “Adobe” to “worm”) at the end of the book very useful.

Nearly all chapters have special features for a clear understanding which you miss in other books. Those are: “links to other chapters”, “key learning points”, “ordered list of sub‐topics”, “boxes”, e.g. with special tips for different user groups, “mini case studies”, “think points”, “summary” and “questions” (with all the answers at the end of the book!). For those who want to dig in special issues there are hints in “further reading” and a lot of “references”. Last but not least a book about “e‐Retailing” without many “Web links” is obviously not imaginable.

In their foreword Dennis et al. mention that they want to provide readers “with a guide to the implementation and operation of a successful e‐retailing business, … ”. That might be OK on a strategic management level but not on a technical‐operational basis. You don't find any hints on homepage‐/shop‐programming via “php” or special software tips for your web shop. Security‐items like “digital signature” which could improve the trust‐factor significantly are not mentioned. The target group is British students but there are unfortunately no comparisons with different international or European laws, e.g. for returning and refunding. It would be of great interest to know in which main European countries a consumer who ordered products via internet has a certain time to send goods back and who has to pay for the returning goods. Some internet‐clothing shops have to cope with return‐quotas up to 50 per cent because, e.g. people order six jeans in different colours and sizes and keep only the one which fits best. Some bigger ones like OTTO in Germany are working with data mining tools to identify and warn those customers to stop this ordering policy to avoid great loses. Because of the excellent content of the book and the rapid development of the web there will be soon further editions necessary. May be some of the missing points could be integrated then to make a very excellent book even better and more difficult for other writers to replace.