Strategic supply chain choices for multi-channel Internet retailers

Multi-channel retailing—selling through multiple, distinct channels—has been a part of the retail industry as long as there have been main street merchants selling through catalogs. Since the mid-1990s, however, multi-channel retailing has increased dramatically due to traditional retailers selling over the Internet. This trend presents considerable operational challenges because Internet and traditional retail have vastly different demand drivers, product variety issues, optimal inventory configurations, cost structures, supply chain structures, and delivery mechanisms. Consequently, the optimal supply chain configuration for Internet delivery differs considerably from the optimal supply chain configuration for a retail store structure, so designing a supply chain system to serve both channels well is difficult. Accordingly, a set of strategic choices and trade-offs must be made. Here, we present some strategic alternatives.

[1]  René M. B. M. de Koster,et al.  Distribution strategies for online retailers , 2003, IEEE Trans. Engineering Management.

[2]  U. Wemmerlöv.  A Taxonomy for Service Processes and its Implications for System Design , 1990 .

[3]  Richard B. Chase,et al.  The Customer Contact Approach to Services: Theoretical Bases and Practical Extensions , 1981, Oper. Res..

[4]  R B Chase,et al.  Where does the customer fit in a service operation? , 1978, Harvard business review.

[5]  Lukas P. Forbes,et al.  Typologies of e‐commerce retail failures and recovery strategies , 2005 .

[6]  R. Johnston,et al.  Towards a Classification of Service Processes , 1992 .

[7]  R. Dholakia,et al.  Multichannel retailing: A case study of early experiences , 2005 .

[8]  Raktim Pal,et al.  Predicting the survival or failure of click-and-mortar corporations: A knowledge discovery approach , 2006, Eur. J. Oper. Res..

[9]  David A. Collier,et al.  A service positioning matrix , 1998 .

[10]  Wei-yu Kevin Chiang,et al.  Production, Manufacturing and Logistics Managing inventories in a two-echelon dual-channel supply chain , 2005 .

[11]  Richard D. Metters,et al.  A typology of de-coupling strategies in mixed services , 2000 .

[12]  Donald D. Eisenstein,et al.  A Production Line that Balances Itself , 1996, Oper. Res..

[13]  Elliot Rabinovich,et al.  A Transaction-Efficiency Analysis of an Internet Retailing Supply Chain in the Music CD Industry , 2003, Decis. Sci..

[14]  E. Rabinovich,et al.  Logistics Service Providers in Internet Supply Chains , 2006 .

[15]  Chris Anderson,et al.  The Long Tail: Why the Future of Business is Selling Less of More , 2006 .

[16]  Jay R. Galbraith.  Designing organizations: An executive briefing on strategy, structure, and process. , 1995 .

[17]  Ralf W. Seifert,et al.  Relaxing channel separation: Integrating a virtual store into the supply chain via transshipments , 2006 .

[18]  Jay R. Galbraith,et al.  Strategy implementation : structure, systems, and process , 1986 .

[19]  P. Shannon.  Mad as Hell , 1996, Language Arts.

[20]  Norman T. Sheehan,et al.  From competition to cooperation: E-tailing's integration with retailing , 2004 .

[21]  Dhruv Grewal,et al.  Internet retailing: enablers, limiters and market consequences , 2004 .

[22]  E. H. Neilsen,et al.  The subordinate's predicaments. , 1979, Harvard business review.

[23]  R. Schmenner.  How can service businesses survive and prosper? , 1986, Sloan management review.

[24]  René de Koster,et al.  Distribution structures for food home shopping , 2002 .

[25]  L. Vogel,et al.  Strategy and Structure , 1986 .

[26]  Ananth Raman,et al.  Retail-data quality: evidence, causes, costs, and fixes , 2000 .

[27]  Markku Tinnilä,et al.  A model for strategic repositioning of service processes , 1995 .

[28]  William H. Glick,et al.  Typologies As a Unique Form Of Theory Building: Toward Improved Understanding and Modeling , 1994 .

[29]  M. Fisher,et al.  Rocket-Science Retailing Is Almost Here: Are You Ready? , 2000 .

[30]  John J. Liu,et al.  Competitive pricing of mixed retail and e-tail distribution channels , 2005 .