Competitive e-tailing strategies for fair trade organizations: Benchmarking against successful commercial organizations

Authors: Halepete, Jaya; Park, Jihye

Source: Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, Volume 10, Number 4, 2006 , pp. 491-507(17)

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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Abstract:

Purpose ? This study aims to provide competitive e-tailing strategies for fair trade organizations using a benchmarking approach. Design/methodology/approach ? A coding guide was developed to obtain information available on 28 fair trade web sites and 28 commercial web sites focusing on company information, product information, distribution channels, customer service, and web site structure/media service. Findings ? Results revealed several evidences that fair trade organizations presented limited information online, compared with commercial organizations. Research limitations/implications ? Fewer commercial retailers benchmarked in the study sold handicrafts, compared with fair trade organizations. Discrepancies in the proportion of products carried by each organization may result in limited generalization of the findings across product categories. Practical implications ? Through benchmarking against profit-making business leaders, fair trade organizations would be able to evaluate strengths and weaknesses for their current online business operations and explore opportunities and improvement in web site management. Originality/value ? This paper provides valuable managerial implications for fair trade organizations focusing on web site operations. Information availability and strategic web site management can attract customers to make purchases on fair trade web sites and, in turn, enable organizations to sustain and grow in the competitive marketplace.

Keywords: Benchmarking; Electronic commerce; Fair trade; Management strategy

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/13612020610702009

Publication date: 2006-10-01