Potentials of Digital Business Models in the retail industry - Empirical Results from European Experts

Abstract An elaborate business model is the fundament of every firm as it describes the manner of functioning. In the course of new developments through digitization, business models and processes have changed enormously and new business models are emerging like never before. While theory and practice show a growing interest in the potential of new business models as a result of digitization, research to date has not yet shown the main impetus for how the potential of digital business models can be significantly used across industries. To achieve this, the authors conducted an empirical study based on a theoretical foundation and found four main drivers (with five items each) regarding cross-industry potentials of digital business models: Key Performance Indicators, Individualization, Efficiency and Communication. The findings of the structural equation model analysis show that three determinants (Key Performance Indicators, Individualization and Efficiency) do have a positive as well as significant influence on the potentials of digital business models. Just the determinants Communication do have a negative as well as insignificant influence on the potentials of digital business models.