Key factors in forming an e-marketplace: An empirical analysis

Currently, the major marketing channel for flower suppliers and retailers in Taiwan is the flower wholesale market. However, when the retailers make purchases in the wholesale market, the dominant suppliers offer poor service, and the retailers find it inconvenient to collect information on the price of flowers. Our study shows that the E-Commerce mechanism of the e-marketplace can improve trading efficiency and lower the cost of collecting information as well as the purchase price. According to our analysis, the e-marketplace can use ‘‘a combination of pictures, literal description, and regulated classification’’ to introduce the quality of flower products. By Fuzzy Delphi, the key factors which affect the operation modes between the retailer and the e-marketplace are ‘‘cooperation on urgent orders’’, ‘‘accuracy of order processing’’, and ‘‘order processing efficiency’’. Then, based on the three key factors, we use Fuzzy Multiple Criteria Decision Making to find what operation modes the e-marketplace should take to cooperate with the retailer. Retailers find the three operation modes ‘‘actively placing orders’’, ‘‘jointly negotiating prices’’, and ‘‘free bidding’’ equally compatible, so we suggest that the e-marketplace should provide these modes at the same time for retailer use and later the retailers can adjust the modes according to their business performance. 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.