SECTION HEADING Keywords: e-commerce, cyber-enhanced retailing, consumer mercantile phases, brick-and-mortar retailing, kiosk, comparative analysis
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Along with the exponential growth of e-commerce activities, the world marketplace is undergoing a rapid transformation and retailing is one of the key areas of this revolution. In this paper, we introduce a concept called `cyberenhanced retailing '. Cyber-enhanced retailing is a paradigm that melds the advantages of e-commerce with the advantages of traditional physical retailing. The paper introduces a framework that compares and contrasts the general advantages and disadvantages of both e-commerce and traditional `brickand-mortar ' retailing. Based on this framework, we analyse possible approaches to applying e-commerce retailing techniques to the consumer mercantile activities in the traditional retailing realm. This analysis leads to a discussion of a number of potential scenarios for enhancing the traditional retail experience by integrating e-commerce technologies.
A Framework for Cyber-enhanced Retailing: Integrating E-Commerce Retailing with Brick-and-Mortar Retailing
JAMES R. OTTO AND Q.B. CHUNG
INTRODUCTION
It will no longer be possible operationally or strategically to ignore the massive changes taking place both in the physical and virtual market places (Rayport and Sviokla 1995; Shaw 1999). Electronic commerce (e-commerce) retailing has grown dramatically since 1997 and continued dramatic increases are projected. The active user population was estimated to be 37 million in December 1998, up from 27 million in December 1997, and is estimated to grow to 142 million by 2002 (eMarketer 1998). Nonetheless, it is unlikely that Internet retailing will supplant any more than a modest amount of traditional (or physical, brick-and-mortar) retailing. According to New York-based research firm Jupiter Communications, in 1998 US
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