The rapid growth of the internet and e-commerce provide new opportunities for China’s retailers, and a new battle for China’s retail industry has begun. The purpose of this research is to explore the barriers and factors for achieving successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Some past studies have investigated the success of e-commerce in the western context. This study aims to partially fill the gap created by the lack of research into e-commerce in the Asian context, by investigating successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry, and is based on a case study of the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Therefore, the research question is ‘How can successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry be achieved?’ Accordingly, three research issues are addressed:Research issue 1: How is e-tailing being used in the Shanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 2: What are the barriers to the implementation of e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 3: What are the factors for achieving successful e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?To investigate the research question and the three research issues, the following approaches were applied. Firstly, three parent disciplines were reviewed, namely, ecommerce, retail in China, and e-tailing success factors, in order to generate the research gap and a theoretical model. A theoretical model was developed, which included six factors and their variables. These six factors are: senior management factors, organisational factors, e-commerce strategies, external factors, consumer factors, and ecommerce system measurements. Secondly, the primary data for this research were collected from interviews (16 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group interviews) and a survey questionnaire (200 valid questionnaires).The findings for the first research issue showed that e-commerce is poorly implemented in the Shanghai Brilliance Group and its subsidiaries, but that e-commerce in the supermarket subsidiaries is more advanced than in the department stores. Only one department store is offering online shopping to their customers, while both supermarket subsidiaries offer online shopping. The rest of the department stores only use websites for advertising and promotion, or for limited customer service, such as award point checking. Moreover, only the Oriental Shopping Centre and Lian Hua Supermarket have specific teams or an out-sourced company controlling their e-commerce project. This shows that e-commerce is not being taken seriously in the Shanghai Brilliance Group to date.In relation to the second research issue, a total of nineteen barriers were identified from the interview data. Those barriers can be divided into two categories, namely, external barriers and internal barriers. Most of those barriers are consistent with those mentioned in the literature. However, some new barriers emerged from the data analysis process, including the mission of the organisation, and high profit objectives.The findings in relation to research issue 3 identified other important factors of e-tailing, besides those barriers answered in research issue 2. Most of the success factors reviewed in the literature were confirmed by the collected data and in addition, some new variables were explored. Overall, six groups of factors and 64 variables were addressed in this research as success factors for e-tailing. This included 57 out of the 59 variables which were previously mentioned in the literature and seven emergent variables.This research has made a contribution to both the theory and practice of e-tailing.Through qualitative analysis, this research not only identifies the important factors of e-tailing, but also generates a comprehensive model to guide the implementation of e-tailing by China’s retailers, especially the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Furthermore, this is the first study to investigate successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Accordingly, the proposed framework of this study provides a foundation for future research.

The rapid growth of the internet and e-commerce provide new opportunities for China’s retailers, and a new battle for China’s retail industry has begun. The purpose of this research is to explore the barriers and factors for achieving successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Some past studies have investigated the success of e-commerce in the western context. This study aims to partially fill the gap created by the lack of research into e-commerce in the Asian context, by investigating successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry, and is based on a case study of the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Therefore, the research question is ‘How can successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry be achieved?’ Accordingly, three research issues are addressed:Research issue 1: How is e-tailing being used in the Shanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 2: What are the barriers to the implementation of e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 3: What are the factors for achieving successful e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?To investigate the research question and the three research issues, the following approaches were applied. Firstly, three parent disciplines were reviewed, namely, ecommerce, retail in China, and e-tailing success factors, in order to generate the research gap and a theoretical model. A theoretical model was developed, which included six factors and their variables. These six factors are: senior management factors, organisational factors, e-commerce strategies, external factors, consumer factors, and ecommerce system measurements. Secondly, the primary data for this research were collected from interviews (16 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group interviews) and a survey questionnaire (200 valid questionnaires).The findings for the first research issue showed that e-commerce is poorly implemented in the Shanghai Brilliance Group and its subsidiaries, but that e-commerce in the supermarket subsidiaries is more advanced than in the department stores. Only one department store is offering online shopping to their customers, while both supermarket subsidiaries offer online shopping. The rest of the department stores only use websites for advertising and promotion, or for limited customer service, such as award point checking. Moreover, only the Oriental Shopping Centre and Lian Hua Supermarket have specific teams or an out-sourced company controlling their e-commerce project. This shows that e-commerce is not being taken seriously in the Shanghai Brilliance Group to date.In relation to the second research issue, a total of nineteen barriers were identified from the interview data. Those barriers can be divided into two categories, namely, external barriers and internal barriers. Most of those barriers are consistent with those mentioned in the literature. However, some new barriers emerged from the data analysis process, including the mission of the organisation, and high profit objectives.The findings in relation to research issue 3 identified other important factors of e-tailing, besides those barriers answered in research issue 2. Most of the success factors reviewed in the literature were confirmed by the collected data and in addition, some new variables were explored. Overall, six groups of factors and 64 variables were addressed in this research as success factors for e-tailing. This included 57 out of the 59 variables which were previously mentioned in the literature and seven emergent variables.This research has made a contribution to both the theory and practice of e-tailing.Through qualitative analysis, this research not only identifies the important factors of e-tailing, but also generates a comprehensive model to guide the implementation of e-tailing by China’s retailers, especially the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Furthermore, this is the first study to investigate successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Accordingly, the proposed framework of this study provides a foundation for future research.

The rapid growth of the internet and e-commerce provide new opportunities for China’s retailers, and a new battle for China’s retail industry has begun. The purpose of this research is to explore the barriers and factors for achieving successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Some past studies have investigated the success of e-commerce in the western context. This study aims to partially fill the gap created by the lack of research into e-commerce in the Asian context, by investigating successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry, and is based on a case study of the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Therefore, the research question is ‘How can successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry be achieved?’ Accordingly, three research issues are addressed:Research issue 1: How is e-tailing being used in the Shanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 2: What are the barriers to the implementation of e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?Research issue 3: What are the factors for achieving successful e-tailing in theShanghai Brilliance Group?To investigate the research question and the three research issues, the following approaches were applied. Firstly, three parent disciplines were reviewed, namely, ecommerce, retail in China, and e-tailing success factors, in order to generate the research gap and a theoretical model. A theoretical model was developed, which included six factors and their variables. These six factors are: senior management factors, organisational factors, e-commerce strategies, external factors, consumer factors, and ecommerce system measurements. Secondly, the primary data for this research were collected from interviews (16 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group interviews) and a survey questionnaire (200 valid questionnaires).The findings for the first research issue showed that e-commerce is poorly implemented in the Shanghai Brilliance Group and its subsidiaries, but that e-commerce in the supermarket subsidiaries is more advanced than in the department stores. Only one department store is offering online shopping to their customers, while both supermarket subsidiaries offer online shopping. The rest of the department stores only use websites for advertising and promotion, or for limited customer service, such as award point checking. Moreover, only the Oriental Shopping Centre and Lian Hua Supermarket have specific teams or an out-sourced company controlling their e-commerce project. This shows that e-commerce is not being taken seriously in the Shanghai Brilliance Group to date.In relation to the second research issue, a total of nineteen barriers were identified from the interview data. Those barriers can be divided into two categories, namely, external barriers and internal barriers. Most of those barriers are consistent with those mentioned in the literature. However, some new barriers emerged from the data analysis process, including the mission of the organisation, and high profit objectives.The findings in relation to research issue 3 identified other important factors of e-tailing, besides those barriers answered in research issue 2. Most of the success factors reviewed in the literature were confirmed by the collected data and in addition, some new variables were explored. Overall, six groups of factors and 64 variables were addressed in this research as success factors for e-tailing. This included 57 out of the 59 variables which were previously mentioned in the literature and seven emergent variables.This research has made a contribution to both the theory and practice of e-tailing.Through qualitative analysis, this research not only identifies the important factors of e-tailing, but also generates a comprehensive model to guide the implementation of e-tailing by China’s retailers, especially the Shanghai Brilliance Group. Furthermore, this is the first study to investigate successful e-tailing in China’s retail industry. Accordingly, the proposed framework of this study provides a foundation for future research.

中國市場具備龐大內需實力，預期2027年將成為世界第一大經濟體，已成為全球注目及亟欲進入以獲取商機之必爭之地。中國零售業自改革開發迄今30年中，連鎖零售企業門市總數由2003年4.7萬家增加至2006年12.4萬家，批發零售貿易業零售總額，由2002年2,973億人民幣增至2007年7,561億人民幣；零售業者對IT系統需求自2000年僅止於足敷前台收款及後台物管相關連結能正常運作，至2005年起開始重視管理層面的有效性考量，至2009年起更甚而重視系統建置於數據擷取後的分析於績效展現及決策運用；零售企業在IT上的平均投資額由2004年的50餘億人民幣增加至2008年100億人民幣。台灣資訊服務產業軟硬體及系統應用整合開發能力均已臻成熟，在同文同種及地理優勢下，此刻正是揮軍中國市場的絕佳時機。 本研究結果顯示，台灣資訊服務業或可參考Ａ公司以「市場定位目標明確性」及「持續動態發展的經營策略」為基礎的經驗，藉由外部資源引進及內化成果紮根的同步展現，建構符合市場發展階段需求之企業優勢。此外；台灣資訊服務產業若能採以專業分工垂直或水平整合形成策略聯盟夥伴關係，掌握市場需求脈動與即時供給具完備性服務內容，當可合力擊退其他國際企業，大規模實質搶攻大陸商機。 / The enormous potential of China domestic market was expected to become the world's largest economies in 2027, the demand has caught the world's attention and desire to explore the great opportunity. After 30 years of development since economy reformation , China retail industry has grow the total number of retailers from 4.7 million in 2003 to 12.4 million in 2006; the total sales revenue of retail business increased from 297.3 billion RMB in 2002 to 756.1 billion RMB in 2007. Whereas in the mean time, retail IT system has expand its function from POS and back office management in 2000 to the efficiency of business management in 2005, and furthermore, IT requirement expand to data capture and analysis for decision supporting system in 2009; along with the increasing demand of information management, the capital investment in IT has increased from 5 billion RMB in 2004 to 10 billion RMB in 2008. With years of development, Taiwan information service industry now has great opportunity to enter China retail market by leveraging its culture homogeneity and geographical advantages with established core competence in both hardware and system integration. This research explores how company "A" could be a reference for Taiwan information industry. Company "A" build up its core competences thru "market positioning" and "dynamic business strategy", with the integration of external resources and internal talents in different development stages. Pursuant to the reference, if Taiwan information services industry could establish vertical integration or horizontal strategic alliance or partnerships, and keep the same pace with market demands and provide total solutions in timing basis, Taiwan information service industry should be able to compete with international major players of the industry and be part of the rapid growth of China retail business.