The Impact of the Online Channel on Retailers' Performances: An Empirical Evaluation

ABSTRACT The use of the Internet as an additional sales channel offers traditional retailers opportunities to reach expanded markets while improving the efficiency of their operations. Although the potential benefits of the online channel are clear, there are significant variations in the scope and depth of online channel use among retailers. Drawing from data on more than 100 publicly traded companies, this study examines the impact of online‐channel use on retailers’ performance. The results suggest that the online channel provides significant improvements in sales, cost, inventory, and return on investments. In addition, we find that the timing of online‐channel adoption does not play a significant role in performance improvement, but having a local store presence does.