Description
Competitors and customers put Local Owner-Operated Retail Outlets(LOOROs) under digitalization pressure. Local Shopping Platforms (LSP), acting as intermediaries between LOOROs and their customers, explicitly make use of the locational strength of LOOROs and seem to be a promising vehicle to help LOOROs overcome their manifold digitalization difficulties. In this study, with the help of a structured content analysis of 27 LSPs in Germany, Switzerland, and the U.S., we analyze LSPs as local descendants of e-marketplaces and derive a functionality-based typology. Furthermore, we scrutinize how LSPs harness LOOROs locational advantages. Despite their visible role as interorganizational service-hubs and a low-level entry option to e-commerce for LOOROs, our results show that LSPs currently unduly focus on location-enabled services that support the online channel, while neglecting the potential of location-based services and the local stores as a Point of Sale (PoS).
Local Shopping Platforms – Harnessing Locational Advantages for the Digital Transformation of Local Retail Outlets: A Content Analysis
Competitors and customers put Local Owner-Operated Retail Outlets(LOOROs) under digitalization pressure. Local Shopping Platforms (LSP), acting as intermediaries between LOOROs and their customers, explicitly make use of the locational strength of LOOROs and seem to be a promising vehicle to help LOOROs overcome their manifold digitalization difficulties. In this study, with the help of a structured content analysis of 27 LSPs in Germany, Switzerland, and the U.S., we analyze LSPs as local descendants of e-marketplaces and derive a functionality-based typology. Furthermore, we scrutinize how LSPs harness LOOROs locational advantages. Despite their visible role as interorganizational service-hubs and a low-level entry option to e-commerce for LOOROs, our results show that LSPs currently unduly focus on location-enabled services that support the online channel, while neglecting the potential of location-based services and the local stores as a Point of Sale (PoS).