Physical Retailing Takes on Internet Retailing: A Preliminary Model of Book Retailer Web Strategies based on Perceived Threats and Opportunities

1 Our sincere thanks to the University of Denver, the University of Richmond, and University College, Dublin for their financial support and encouragement during the preliminary and later stages of this research. Special thanks also to the book retailers who shared so generously of their time. Abstract During the tremendous evolution of Internet technologies, and the emergence of firms such as Amazon.com, large and small book retailers have struggled with the decision of when and how to adopt an Internet presence -some would still argue if they should adopt. The book retailing industry's dilemmas epitomize much of the retailing business in that it is composed of large and small players of varying experience and resources. This paper draws upon the literature, media articles, and preliminary interview examples from book retailing to present a model of Internet adoption based on perceived threats and opportunities in five categories. These five areas of potential threat or opportunity include perceptions about firm characteristics, webretailing experience, the competitive environment, internal resources and external resources. We propose that the combination of these perceptions influence very specifically the choice to adopt an Internet presence and the strategy of the site. The balance of our paper explores the rationale for this argument.