Du marketing des points de vente à celui des sites marchands : spécificités, opportunités et questions de recherche

This article aims at challenging the relevance of some concepts typical of traditional retail activities for understanding electronic commerce. We try to demonstrate that geography still plays a role in building a competitive advantage over the Web, but that the notion of distance has changed considerably. We then argue that merchandising no longer lies on static and massive display of products but on flexible organisation of information and personalization; that ambience will probably play a key role in structuring the competition, but that the use of atmospherics over the Net is still in its infancy. We finally claim that low prices and high service level are less irreconcilable over the Net, in comparison with physical retailing; and that building traffic does not mean short-term promotional actions but the gradual construction of a networks of affiliates. We conclude this article with some thinking about the possibly new role of brands and the enduring myth that electronic commerce may finally lead to pure competition.