E-Retailing from Past to Future: Definitions, Analysis, Problems, and Perspectives

Abstract

In this chapter, first, the definition, the advantages and disadvantages of e-retailing are given and the related literature about e-retailing is briefly explained in order to give a background to unfamiliar readers. Then, the qualitative and quantitative criteria which affect the e-retailer selection are determined and some e-retailers are evaluated by using a multi-phase, integrated Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approach. In first phase of proposed MCDM approach, the weight of each criterion is determined. In second phase, a pre-evaluation is made and some of the e-retailers are eliminated. In last phase, the remaining retailers are evaluated and the best one is determined. Finally, the study is concluded by discussions, inferences and recommendations for future work.