Commerce Électronique et Conflits de Canaux de Distribution : Un État de la Question

This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data

Commerce Électronique et Conflits de Canaux de Distribution : Un État de la Question

Author Info

Malika Aboubekr
Suzanne Rivard ()

Abstract

Electronic commerce development, especially since the emergence of direct Internet sales to customers, often comes with the prevailing opinion that, in order to preserve their market share, firms must develop abilities to sell on-line. However, in practice, companies often mention the fear of channel conflicts that such initiatives could generate. Does electronic commerce bring the expected productivity gains ? Is Internet as channel of distribution really a radical alternative to the traditional distribution channels ? Do Internet direct sales automatically translate into conflicts of distribution channels? To answer these questions, the first part of this report evaluates the potential and observed impacts of Internet as distribution channel. The second part is devoted to channel conflicts, more specifically those due to disintermediation. Finally, the paper discusses some of the actions undertaken by the traditional distribution channels in response to the threat disintermediation represented, as well as compromises some of the firms have found to solve or alleviate such conflicts.

Le développement qu'a connu le commerce électronique, notamment avec l'apparition des ventes directes aux consommateurs par le biais d'Internet, s'est accompagné de l'idée largement répandue que toute entreprise soucieuse de préserver son positionnement sur le marché doit se doter de capacités de vente en ligne. Sur le terrain, par contre, les entreprises évoquent souvent la crainte des conflits de canaux de distribution que ce type d'initiative pourrait susciter. Le commerce électronique génère-t-il les gains de productivité attendus ? Internet comme canal de distribution est-il, comme cela a souvent été affirmé, une alternative radicale au recours aux canaux de distribution traditionnels ? L'utilisation d'Internet pour vendre directement aux consommateurs se traduit-elle obligatoirement par des conflits de canaux de distribution ? Pour répondre à ces questions, la première partie de ce rapport évaluera les impacts potentiels et observés d'Internet comme canal de distribution. La seconde partie sera consacrée aux conflits de canaux de distribution et plus particulièrement à ceux générés par la menace de désintermédiation qu'Internet fait peser sur les distributeurs traditionnels. Elle évoquera également les actions menées par ces derniers en riposte à cette situation et les compromis trouvés par les entreprises.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by CIRANO in its series CIRANO Project Reports with number 2002rp-09.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: 01 Apr 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:cir:cirpro:2002rp-09

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 2020 rue University, 25e �tage, Montr�al, Qu�c, H3A 2A5
Phone: (514) 985-4000
Fax: (514) 985-4039
Email:
Web page: http://www.cirano.qc.ca/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Webmaster).

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2002-05-14 (All new papers)
NEP-ENT-2002-05-14 (Entrepreneurship)
NEP-NET-2002-05-14 (Network Economics)

Statistics

Access and download statistics

Did you know? Over 80% of the top 1000 economists are registered on RePEc.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-22.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.