Value Drivers of e-Commerce Business Models

The rapid emergence of e-commerce is radically transforming the business landscape. Startup firms are capturing new opportunities in the electronic market place through innovative business models. Established firms are racing to transform and adapt their old business models to the new environment. A business model depicts the way in which a company enables transactions that create value for all participants, including its partners, suppliers, and customers. Using data from 60 American and European e-commerce companies that have recently become publicly traded corporations, we develop a conceptual framework for assessing the value creation potential of e-commerce business models. Our “eValue” framework describes the value drivers of ecommerce business models. It facilitates a comparison of the value-creation potential of different e-commerce business models along four identified value drivers, namely, novelty, lock-in, complementarities, and efficiency. Our central claim is that a firm’s business model is an important locus of innovation and a crucial source of value creation for all stakeholders. This value creation goes beyond the value that can be realized through the appropriate positioning of an enterprise within an industry or the exploitation of firm-specific core competencies.