Viewing the Web as a marketplace: the case of small companies

Companies have rushed to set up presences on the World Wide Web. In most instances, they are advertising their products and services, and in some instances, are actually delivering them over the Internet. Many of these companies are small, and there is at least anecdotal evidence that small companies are at the forefront of commercial use of the Web. In this paper, we consider various perspectives for assessing the role and use of the Web. We argue that most small companies will view the Web as an electronic marketplace. We consider the attraction of the Web as a marketplace for small companies, and the key strategic drivers that are moving small companies to join the Web. We also suggest a number of inhibitors that will make the Web less attractive for small companies in the future. The result is a model that can be used to understand the position of small companies with respect to the Web. Despite the youth of this new medium, some marketing paradigms common to many entrants are emerging. We discuss these paradigms and give examples of their use. We briefly review some successful cases. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.