Exploring influential factors on the performance of sales/service channel in the E-Commerce context — An empirical study on auto distributors in Taiwan

The research on supply chain management (SCM) has been for decades the focus of the academic communities and practitioners alike. SCM depends on implementing E-Commerce (EC) as the key success factor. Distribution channel as the very end of the supply chain where customers buy market offerings including core products and supplementary services plays a crucial role in business excellence. However, little attention has been paid for the study on the antecedent consequence of performance improvement of sales/service channel in the extant body of research. Therefore, based on the outcome of literature review and field survey, we propose a conceptual model based on Levitt´s insights and Chopra´s framework to explore influential factors on the performance in the EC context, by taking automobile channel as the study case. Hypotheses are made to conceptualize a theoretical framework allowing the methodology of structure equation modeling (SEM) to test the theory. The objective is to identify the causal links of channel performance with constructs such as EC practice, EC environment, information technology capacity, and partner relationship management. The outcome of this study makes a contribution in shedding light on sales/service channel strategy formulation for performance improvement.