The role of online buying experience as a competitive advantage: Evidence from third-party ratings for e-commerce firms

Claims have often been made that the quality of online buying experience Web site usability, product selection, the extent of customer confidence, and the quality of customer relationships - are crucial to the success of e-commerce firms. We posit that Web site usability and product selection can be competed away via imitation, while customer confidence and relationship services represent a sustainable competitive advantage. Evidence from the association between third-party ratings of online buying experience and firms' Tobin's q for a sample of 46 e-commerce firms during the period 1999 - 2000 is consistent with our posited hypotheses.