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Critical Success Factors of B2C Website Storefronts (Or What Will Make B2C Website Fronts Sell Well or Swelter)
Abstract
The Internet has revolutionized the worldwide business paradigm since the United States government allowed its commercial use in 1994. Today, products are conceptualized, designed, manufactured, marketed, bought and delivered online through what is called e-business. Established businesses and new start-ups around the world compete in the Internet arena. The early and phenomenal success of those who pioneered in the Internet gave rise to an unprecedented growth in new companies, mostly pure play or dotcom (meaning, no traditional business operations, referred to as brick-and-mortar). This phenomenon, considered as the first wave of e-business [Frost], has created a flood of innovative ways for website retailers to entice consumers to purchase and re-purchase their products. However, these business-to-consumer (B2C) retailers are at a loss as to what factors will make B2C consumers purchase and repurchase from them. This problem has become more significant as shortly after the dotcom boom in 1996 to 1999, the dotcom bust in 2000 saw many B2Cs fall and falter. The e-business bubble burst as sky-rocketing expectations for sales and profits could not be met by many e-business organizations that joined the bandwagon without solid strategies and plan. Those that remained as well as those that joined the second wave realized that e-business, like traditional business, had to rely on well-grounded plan, apply sound business practices using new rules and new tools brought about by the Internet [Strauss, Turban]. Initial attempts have been made to determine what B2C sell well or swelter. [Media Metrix ]. Others attempted further by identifying the strategies these well-selling B2Cs adopt [Boston Consulting Group]. None, however, developed an empirical model that would identify factors that are critical to their selling success. This problem prompted this researcher to initially venture into identifying these critical factors.
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