Towards a model of e-tailing: A SWOT analysis of electronic supermarkets

The fact that supermarkets are still very much in their experimental stages of using electronic commerce, even in the most advanced electronic market like the USA, is well documented by Kalakota and Dutta. E-commcrce has been applied in retailing (e-tailing) and also in supermarkets, but the question remains, has it been implemented by strategic choice or has it been 'forced' upon?. The initial task of this research was to review, in form of a SWOT analysis, the concept of electronic supermarkets. As a precursor, the external business environment in which they operate was analysed to determine the opportunities and/or threats they present. This was undertaken using the PESTIE (Political; Economic; Sociological; Technological; Industry and Ecological factors) model. A further analysis examined the internal capabilities of the supermarkets and their abilities to exploit the opportunities or combat the threats presented by the external environment, i.e. strengths and weaknesses. Key Success Factors (KSF) for enabling competitive advantage were identified. Copyright © 2002 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.