Sources of value creation
- In what ways does e-commerce possess the ability to decrease transaction costs both for customers and the Case Company?
- Would you say that a large part of the value provided by e-tailer business models are formed by combining a number of actors into a value-adding partner network? (payment providers, application development, SEO & SEM, logistics etc.). Can this be seen also in the Case Company business model and in what way?
- In which way has technological development transformed the retail criterion for deciding whether to in-house or outsource?
- What would you say are the main sources of value creation in e-commerce?
o In what ways does e-commerce enhance efficiency in the Case Company business model? product/service (such as loyalty programs, frequent buyer discounts, etc.?)
o Have novel ways of organizing business processes been introduced? What kinds of ways?
The Business Model Components
Product Innovation
- What is the value proposition of the e-tailer business model?
o Could you describe the value proposition in detail?
o What kinds of promises about service does the value proposition include?
o What kinds of promises about image and quality does the value proposition include?
- What are the core activities of the Case Company e-tailer business model, which constitute to largest added value for customers?
o Which of these core activities and operations are operated coherent entity to meet the set business objectives? What are the main managerial tasks in operating the business model?
- Does technology play an active role in the e-tailer business model activities and processes and how can this be seen?
- What are the main technology capabilities required to operate the e-tailer business model?
Customer Relationships
- What are the main customer groups of the e-tailer business model?
o By which means has segmentation of customers been made?
o What kinds of technological tools have been used for gathering customer data and following purchasing behavior etc. in order to provide information for decision-making?
- In what way does the e-tailer business model enhance customer relationships?
o What activities have been included or coupled with the online storefront to enhance customer relationships?
- Are customer satisfaction and loyalty seen as the main goals of the e-tailer business model regarding customer relationship management?
o What efforts have been made in practice to enhance customer loyalty and customer satisfaction?
- Is data actively/constantly being gathered into large databases regarding customers and their online behavior?
o In what ways are information systems used to analyze the vast amount of data?
- What kinds of customer service channels have been integrated with the online storefront?
o What kinds of activities fall under customer service? (eg: live chat and guided selling, notifications about order status, etc.) o What kinds of value added services are provided via the
online storefront? (such as payments, order tracking etc.) - What kinds of efforts have been made to offer customers personalized
relationships?
- What is the role of branding regarding the e-tailer business model?
o Do you see branding in this context to consist more about the overall service offering, rather than solely product offering and brand recognition of the products?
Infrastructure Management
- How many people at the Case Company operate solely in e-commerce operations?
o What kinds of in-house resources are required to operate the e-tailer business model?
o How many people would you estimate to be working on Case Company e-commerce operations, when the entire network of value adding partners is taken into consideration?
- What kinds of outsourced resources are required to operate the e-tailer business model?
- What are the most important resources for the Case Company business model
o Why and how can the role of technology in the different business model components be seen in practice in the Case Company business model?
Financial Aspects
- By what financial metrics is or should the performance of the e-tailer business model be measured?
- What is the revenue model of the e-tailer business model?
o Are partners (for example logistics, marketing automations, etc.) commissioned by revenue share per order etc.?
- What are the main cost-drivers of the e-tailer business model?
- What is the profit model of the e-tailer business model?
Technology
- In what ways has information transmission and sharing between the Case Company and its network of value adding partners been automated?
o What processes have been automated in the Case Company solution?
- What kinds of technological tools and protocols are used in the Case Company system in order to enable the automation of information to different counterparts in the value adding network?
- What kinds of technical resources are required in order to operate the Case Company e-tailer business model?
o What kinds of resources are in-house?
o What is outsourced and provided by partners in the value-adding network?
o In what ways should technical staff have vast understanding of the e-tailer business model, in order to be able to provide value to the service?
- Is business process- and information technology architecture planning and decision making made hand in hand with each other? How can this be seen in practice, when planning the business model and e-tailer architecture?
o Are there web mining tools present?
o Is external data used in addition to the data provided by the e-commerce platform, in order to perform data mining activities? What kinds of external sources?
- Are data mining activities tools included in the Case Company CRM system? What kinds of analysis can be run?
- How are data mining activities used to analyze supply chain activities?