Website Retailing: Electronic Supply Chain Replenishment

Abstract

Electronic commerce (EC) includes electronic data interchange (EDI) and the Internet and is used in various applications to seek improvements in effectiveness and efficiency. Supply chain management (SCM) is an application of EC, and therefore, the impact of EC can be seen throughout the supply chain (SC). This study explores the effectiveness of replenishment using the Internet (i.e., website retailing) when comparing different replenishment options, by analyzing the distributor-retail outlet and retail outlet-customer links in the SC. Moreover, this research studies customer buying habits as well as inventory management strategies when products are purchased via a website. Five hundred and fifteen products are analyzed over time (monthly) in order to identify replenishment issues when conducting business (e-business) from a website (e-tailing).