Implementing e‐value strategies in UK retailing

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the current strategic landscape of UK “bricks and clicks” retailers. The main focus of this work is to consider how e-commerce may provide competitive advantage via an insight into the current strategies employed by UK retailers. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses both secondary and primary data analysis to explore its research questions. The paper begins with an overview of the e-strategy literature and then goes on to examine the key areas of e-value creation for bricks and clicks companies. Next an analysis of the results of a survey of the UK's top 500 retailers tests the existing literature and provides new evidence of emerging e-strategies. Findings – The data analysis in this research reveals significant gaps between theory and practice and leads to the development of a new model of business “e-value-added”. Research limitations/implications – It is difficult to generalise the findings from this survey, given the small number of respondents. Further in-depth qualitative research is needed to enable us to understand better the organisational issues around e-commerce development and implementation. Practical implications – It is suggested that, in order to exploit the internet to its full potential, legacy retailers need to analyse a variety of situational antecedents in order to identify e-value creation opportunities. In addition, they must consider whether integration or separation with bricks and clicks operations will deliver the best solution in each value-adding interface. Originality/value – This research offers a new insight into current e-tail strategies for bricks and clicks businesses, and as such is likely to be of interest to academics and practitioners alike.

[1]  Chaffey.  Internet-Marketing , 2001 .

[2]  Thomas C. Lawton,et al.  Advancing to the Virtual Value Chain: Learning from the Dell Model , 2001 .

[3]  Anthony Welch.  Finding a Way Through the Maze , 2001 .

[4]  T. Jelassi,et al.  The converging business models of Internet and bricks-and-mortar retailers , 2000 .

[5]  Christmas on the Web: 1998 vs. 1999 , 2002 .

[6]  Raphael Amit,et al.  Strategies for value creation in e-commerce:: best practice in Europe , 2000 .

[7]  J. Reynolds,et al.  eCommerce: a critical review , 2000 .

[8]  M. Porter,et al.  How Information Gives You Competitive Advantage , 1985 .

[9]  Floris P.C. van Hoofd,et al.  E‐business strategy: how to benefit from a hype , 2001 .

[10]  M. Gilly,et al.  eTailQ: dimensionalizing, measuring and predicting etail quality , 2003 .

[11]  N. McBride.  Business use of the internet: Strategic decision or another bandwagon? , 1997 .

[12]  J. Fjermestad,et al.  E‐commerce marketing strategies: an integrated framework and case analysis , 2001 .

[13]  R. Feinberg,et al.  The state of electronic customer relationship management in retailing , 2002 .

[14]  D. Reibstein.  What attracts customers to online stores, and what keeps them coming back? , 2002 .

[15]  R. Gulati,et al.  Get the Right Mix of Bricks and Clicks , 2000 .

[16]  S. Burt,et al.  E-commerce and the retail process: a review , 2003 .

[17]  Mark B. Kolesar,et al.  A services-marketing perspective on e-retailing: implications for e-retailers and directions for further research , 2000, Internet Res..

[18]  Gregory E. Kersten,et al.  Are All E-Commerce Negotiations Auctions? , 2000, COOP.

[19]  C. Ellis.  Lessons From Online Groceries , 2003 .

[20]  John J. Sviokla,et al.  Exploiting the virtual value chain , 1999 .

[21]  E. P. Michael.  Strategy and the Internet. , 2001 .

[22]  Kari Tanskanen,et al.  Increasing the cost efficiency of e‐fulfilment using shared reception boxes , 2002 .

[23]  Bob Hartley,et al.  Integrated marketing communications requires a new way of thinking , 1999 .

[24]  U. Johansson.  Retail buying: process, information and IT use: a conceptual framework , 2001 .

[25]  Neil F. Doherty,et al.  Signs of change? A longitudinal study of Internet adoption in the UK retail sector , 2002 .

[26]  Vikas Agrawal,et al.  E-performance: The path to rational exuberance , 2001 .

[27]  Fiona E. Ellis-Chadwick,et al.  Retailer adoption of the Internet – Implications for retail marketing , 2000 .

[28]  Paul J. A. van Vliet,et al.  Understanding Online Retail: A Classification of Online Retailers , 2001, J. Comput. Inf. Syst..

[29]  E. Huizingh.  Towards Successful E-Business Strategies: A Hierarchy of Three Management Models , 2002 .

[30]  Online shopping: the logistics issues , 2003 .