رشد بدون سود: شرح و توضیح تناقض سودآوری معامله اینترنتی

It has been frequently reported that a major problem of Internet business models is that they lack transaction profitability. The difficulty does not appear to be with the number of transactions (i.e. growth) but the problem of transaction profitability with low returns to online retailers. This paper explores the root causes of weak profitability on two levels. The first suggests an explanation derived from strategic level analysis. Within this analysis two models are used. The first is an explanation of how Internet businesses in general can lose bargaining power to other industry stakeholders. How this relative loss of bargaining power translates into reduced returns for Internet business models is discussed. The second strategic model is unique to this paper and seeks to explore a basis for mapping strategic positions that may yield superior returns for various generic Internet business models. In this way the strategic section of the paper provides both an analysis of the causes of the transaction profitability problem and then goes on to propose a generic strategic solution. The second level of theoretical analysis is operational. Here the paper develops two further models. The first links the unique attributes of the Internet to service outcomes and customer loyalty through a framework of “order winning” and “order qualifying” criteria. This theoretical framework provides a dynamic explanation of transaction profitability. The second operational model (called “the leaky bucket theory”) analyses transaction cycles to seek out both opportunities and risks to Internet based customer value creation. The theoretical section is illustrated by case data including EasyJet, Sainsbury's and Mercedes Benz amongst others. The paper concludes with specific suggestions for Internet business managers that are designed to help them address the problem of low transaction profitability. This article draws on the early results of doctoral research being conducted at Templeton College and Said Business School, University of Oxford. This implies that the use of the case study examples is for illustrative purposes and this paper does not make claims of generalisability based on this early qualitative field data.

This paper attempts to deal with two related problems: how to maximise returns from on-line transactions and how to increase the number of profitable on-line transactions. A successful business is made up not only of individually profitable transactions but a sufficient number of them. Nordan (2001) estimates that retail revenue online now accounts for half a percent of total retail sales worldwide. However, the underlying problem seems to lie in the fact that many retailers have so far failed to convert these revenues into profits. Consequently, global consumers spent €13 billion online and have tended to be the beneficiaries of the experience rather than retailers themselves. Fig. 1 shows how the economic surplus has been distributed, with retailers trailing other stakeholders. Retailers have experienced a cost saving of €1.2b, hardware and software companies with economic surplus of €3.2b, and marketing spending of €5.5b and consulting spending of €3.2b. This shows a total net surplus of €13.1 billion between 1998 and 2000 (Nordan, 2001).For this reason, the question that the majority of retail managers are currently facing is how to ensure on-line revenues generate higher profit per transaction? According to Reichheld and Sasser (1990), the probability of an on-line business making above industry average profits per transaction is predicated upon the degree to which the transaction is perceived to be creating sufficient net value for the customer. As a result, poor transaction profitability will lead to poor return on investment which in turn leads to less profit to reinvest in creating value for customers. (Reichheld and Sasser, 1990 and Reichheld, 1996 suggested that creating value for customers builds loyalty and loyalty in turn builds growth, profit, and more value. Thus profit is a consequence of value creation which along with loyalty makes up the real heart of any successful, long lasting business. So unless browsers can be converted into buyers and be kept by creating value for them, online transactions will not be profitable and the problem of low returns to online retailers will remain. This article will attempt to address this issue by seeking to understand the causes of the problem at both a strategic level and at an operational level. Models will then be developed in an attempt to provide a solution to the problem facing retail businesses.

The problem facing managers of on-line business is two-fold—how to ensure that transactions are profitable and secondly to ensure that there are enough of these transactions. This paper has attempted to demonstrate a few simple prioritised questions to understanding the nature of this twin problem. These are as follows: 1. Are customers’ order-winning criteria understood? 2. Which of the capabilities of the Internet provide a unique opportunity to improve the firm's ability to meet these order-winning criteria (if at all)? 3. What is the net perceived benefit for the customer to change from traditional purchasing channels to the Internet? 4. How durable is the on-line transaction benefit? 5. What should the on-line pricing strategy be? 6. What is the business case for the Internet as an alternative marketing channel—how will the capabilities of the Internet lead to an improvement in transaction profitability, volume, costs or asset turnover? When these questions were applied to the easyJet case, improvements to ROI with the Internet may be derived from increasing the volume of sales, reducing internal costs and decreasing fixed assets. These improvements have seemed to justify the investment and maximised the potential benefits of Internet capabilities. Another point is to create sufficient value to overcome the risk perceived by customers. We looked at the example of Ford and Volkswagen. Consequently, companies that will increase their on-line transaction profitability are not companies that will have the edge on others simply because they have a website and they use the Internet technology to re-engineer what is already being done or just to save cost. No companies that will increase on-line transaction profitability and that will sustain their competitive advantage in the future are because their thinking and behaviour make customers central to their strategies in a profound and dedicated way. The Internet capabilities will help them to make this happen through the unique service outcomes that derived from them.