B2B E-commerce Implementation : A case study of Star Laundry Solutions

Abstract: This thesis investigates the way to implement a valuable e-commerce solution. With the growing importance of information technologies in business practices, more and more companies are adopting e-commerce as a selling and ordering process. However, depending on the market environment, the level of success of the implementation may differ. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine what are the conditions required for a successful B2B e-commerce implementation in different market contexts. Theories related to the impact of markets' contexts on e-commerce, the business process, and the drivers and enablers of e-commerce have been considered. Thereafter the current situation of Star Laundry Solutions (SLS) has been studied. The context of different markets – France, United Kingdom, Turkey - where they have dealers, the business process drivers of implementations and success factors of a valuable e-commerce solution have been investigated. The result of the empirical studied are analyzed in comparison with the theoretical findings. Through this method, the main research question of the thesis, namely “What are the necessary conditions to implement a value-adding e-commerce solution in different market contexts?” can be answered. Several conditions have been identified in order to succeed the implementation and bring value to the different players along the supply chain, from the manufacturer to the end-customer. The market should first answer different criteria. Further, future users of the web solution must support the implementation, trust between parties must also emerge from the implementation, and additional information must be provided on the website such as product numbers (PNCs), products' availability and delivery times. The provided recommendations of this thesis regarding the features of the web solution, the range of products that dealers and importers should be able to order online and the range of companies that should be allowed to use the web solution in Turkey.