Electronic commerce, marketing channels and.pdfVIP

Electronic commerce, marketing channels and logistics platforms––a wholesaler perspective Niklas Aldin, Fredrik Stahre * Department of Management and Economics, Link€oping Institute of Technology, International Graduate School of Management and Industrial Engineering (IMIE), Logistics Management, SE-581 83 Link€oping, Sweden Abstract Electronic commerce may impose new demands which the supply chain has to react to, while at the same time being an enabler of effective marketing and logistics. This paper describes alternative strategies for wholesalers conducting electronic commerce and how logistics may support the development of marketing channels and improve flexibility. Related issues with logistics implications are the decisions whether or not to use multiple channels and if intermediaries should totally bypass dealers, or rather collaborate by letting them manage the marketing relations and bypass them logistically. The concept of ‘‘logistics platforms’’ is discussed, based on empirical findings. Empirically the base is a case study of an intermediary with extensive use of business-to-business electronic commerce in a supply chain with inde- pendent dealers. The paper compares theoretical aspects with findings from the case and gives some indications of the potential of electronic commerce and logistics platforms.
2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Supply chain management; Marketing channels; Logistics platform; Electronic commerce; Flexibility 1. Introduction Electronic commerce has been proposed to have a major impact regarding threats and opportuni- ties for intermediaries in many industries. Mar- keting channel intermediaries were in the early days of electronic commerce considered to add only cost and limited value, where upstream par- ticipants pursuing electronic commerce strategies threatened such intermediaries by attempting to bypass them (see e.g. Bakos, 1998; Vandemerwe, 1999). The development now is rather that the intermedi