| Abstract: |
The paper analyses from an evolutionary perspective how retailers respond and
adapt to b2c e-commerce. As such, the paper explores the diversity of behavior
of retailers with respect to the adoption of e-commerce. More in particular,
it examines empirically the extent to which the adoption of Internet
strategies is affected by firm-specific features (e.g., habits of the
entrepreneur, routines of firms), network relationships, and geographical
proximity. Logistic regression analyses of 643 independent retailers in the
Netherlands suggest that geography matters, controlling for other factors.
That is, the probability of having an Internet strategy increases
significantly when (a) the more knowledge spillovers are locally available;
(b) the more demanding local customers are; and (c), the less rivalry is
present locally. |