Internet Retailing

This paper investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer loyalty in an online business-to-consumer (B2C) context. We identify eight factors (the 8Cs—customization, contact interactivity, care, community, convenience, cultivation, choice, and character) that potentially impact e-loyalty and develop scales to measure these factors. Data collected from 1,211 online customers demonstrate that all these factors, except convenience, impact e-loyalty. The data also reveal that e-loyalty has an impact on two customer-related outcomes: word-of- mouth promotion and willingness to pay more.

A recent trend in the grocery retail sector worldwide is the emergence of e-commerce. A lot of research has been conducted on e-commerce in the grocery retail sector, but only few studies have focused on category or product level.

Firstly, this thesis aims to identify important product category characteristics and their influence on e-commerce market shares in the grocery retail sector to get a better understanding and more refined definitions of those product category characteristics. Based upon relevant theories that can explain variation across product category e-commerce market shares through category characteristics, five product category characteristic are examined: product categories with sensory properties (1), product categories with bulky and/or heavy properties (2),  non-food product categories (3), the level of functional risk of product categories (4) and the level of advertising intensity of product categories (5).

Secondly, this thesis aims to examine how product category characteristics drive product category e-commerce market shares. To test the effect of the product characteristics, time series data of e-commerce market shares are combined with dedicated consumer survey data and secondary institutional data. The model of the regression analysis in this study uses a log-log model and is estimated by using ordinary least squares (OLS).

As a result, it can be concluded that all product characteristics of the model have a significantly proven effect on e-commerce market share. Product categories with high sensory properties negatively affect e-commerce market share. Categories with high bulky and/or heavy properties negatively affect e-commerce market share, counterintuitive to what is expected. Non-food categories positively affect e-commerce market share. The level of functional risk of a product category negatively affects e-commerce market share and the level of advertising intensity of a product category positively affects e-commerce market share.

It is recommended to extent the research to a higher number of product characteristics, since there are still a lot of unexplained factors that drive e-commerce in the grocery retail.

This paper reviewed the studies of Internet retailing management. It found that, in general, most of the papers on the topic took focus on Internet retailing strategy and online merchandise management. Specifically, it drawn following conclusions: First, there were six major incentives for firms to adopt Internet retailing, including improving internal communication, improving operational efficiency, facing competition, enhancing customer services, reaching out to a wider audience, and improving relations with suppliers. Second, cost of Internet trading and consumer preference were negatively, while status of Internet retailing strategy, technology capability, Internet communication preference, Internet marketplace, and market development opportunity were positively, affect firms to adopt Internet retailing. Third, market positioning, business model, estimation of the market size, Internet-based innovative application, and strong brand of website were the key factors for the success of an online retailing website. Fourth, cross-channel conflict might be reduced by reconstructing the business process or adjusting the pricing strategy, while Internet retailing inventory might be improved by firms' zero inventory policy, in-stock inventory policy, and dynamic inventory policy. Finally, a firm's quality of logistics and delivery could be increased by high-value-package strategy and emergency transshipments. Implications of these conclusions were suggested.

Empirical studies reveal a surprisingly wide variety of pricing strategies among retailers, even among Internet sellers of undifferentiated homogeneous goods, such as books and music CDs. Several empirical findings remain puzzling; for example, within the same market, some small retailers decide to discount deeply, whereas others forgo the price-sensitive switchers and price high. The authors present theoretical and empirical analyses that address these varied pricing strategies. A model of three asymmetric firms shows that under multiple switcher segments, in which different switchers compare prices at different retailers, firm-specific loyalty is not sufficient to explain the variety of pricing strategies. The authors demonstrate that a retailer's strategy to discount deeply or frequently is driven by the ratio of the size of switcher segments for which the retailer competes to its loyal segment size. The relative switcher-to-loyal ratios among retailers explain situations in which a small retailer finds it optimal to price high, despite having few loyals, or to discount and go for the switchers. The results of two empirical studies confirm the model's predictions for varied pricing strategies in the context of Internet booksellers. The analyses also present several implications. A small retailer can sometimes benefit from strategically limiting its access to switchers to soften price competition. A midsized retailer can benefit from targeting its switcher acquisition activities toward its larger rival, given the shallower discounts involved. When most switchers widely compare prices, a large retailer should offer few shallow discounts because other firms will more aggressively discount. The importance of switcher segmentation suggests that managers should carefully measure switching behavior in devising pricing strategies.

Electronic retailing is redefining the way retailers have been conducting business by paving way to reach a global audience. Successful electronic retailing is dependant upon all aspects of the shopping experience, including the usability of the retailers' website. This paper outlines the state of electronic retailing and gives an overview of Internet adoption in Australia and its use for online shopping. Opportunities and challenges of electronic retailing have been drawn from the extant literature on electronic retailing. An analysis of the usability of Australia's top twenty retailers' website has been carried out and factors relating to navigation, searchability, purchasing, layout and visual clarity, information content and others pertaining to online web browsers support and the usage of cookies have been assessed. Currently even if online retailing accounts for a small percentage of aggregate sales, it can be predicted that electronic retailing will only continue to grow significantly in the future.

This paper investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer loyalty in an online business-to-consumer (B2C) context. We identify eight factors (the 8Cs-customization, contact interactivity, care, community, convenience, cultivation, choice, and character) that potentially impact e-loyalty and develop scales to measure these factors. Data collected from 1,211 online customers demonstrate that all these factors, except convenience, impact e-loyalty. The data also reveal that e-loyalty has an impact on two customer-related outcomes: word-of-mouth promotion and willingness to pay more.

This paper investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer loyalty in an online business-to-consumer (B2C) context. We identify eight factors (the 8Cs-customization, contact interactivity, care, community, convenience, cultivation, choice, and character) that potentially impact e-loyalty and develop scales to measure these factors. Data collected from 1,211 online customers demonstrate that all these factors, except convenience, impact e-loyalty. The data also reveal that e-loyalty has an impact on two customer-related outcomes: word-of-mouth promotion and willingness to pay more.

"During the last two decades the retailing industry is finding itself in a state of constant evolution
and transformation. Globalization, mergers and acquisitions, and technological developments
have drastically changed the retailing landscape. The explosive growth of the Internet
has been one of the main catalysts in this process. The effects of the Internet have been mostly
felt in retail sectors dealing mainly with intangibles or information products. But these are not
likely to be limited to these sectors; increasingly retailers of physical products realize that the
empowered, sophisticated, critical and well-informed consumer of today is essentially different
to the consumer they have always known. The web, and particularly what is known as Social
Media or Web 2.0, have given consumers much more control, information and power
over the market process, posing retailers with a number of important dilemmas and challenges.
This article explains what the new face of the Internet, widely referred to as Web 2.0
or Social Media, is, identifies its importance as a strategic marketing tool and proposes a
number of alternative strategies for retailers. Implementing such strategies will allow retailers"

This paper investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer loyalty in an online business-to-consumer (B2C) context. We identify eight factors (the 8Cs-customization, contact interactivity, care, community, convenience, cultivation, choice, and character) that potentially impact e-loyalty and develop scales to measure these factors. Data collected from 1,211 online customers demonstrate that all these factors, except convenience, impact e-loyalty. The data also reveal that e-loyalty has an impact on two customer-related outcomes: word-of-mouth promotion and willingness to pay more.

This paper investigates the antecedents and consequences of customer loyalty in an online business-to-consumer (B2C) context. We identify eight factors (the 8Cs-customization, contact interactivity, care, community, convenience, cultivation, choice, and character) that potentially impact e-loyalty and develop scales to measure these factors. Data collected from 1,211 online customers demonstrate that all these factors, except convenience, impact e-loyalty. The data also reveal that e-loyalty has an impact on two customer-related outcomes: word-of-mouth promotion and willingness to pay more.