CHOICE OF SALES CHANNELS IN ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

ABSTRACT Electronic commerce in Brazil has become a significant channel for the dissemination, commercialization and distribution of products and services - in terms of physical and financial volume, however there are many gaps in knowledge about the process of choice of sales channels in the online environment. The objective of this work is to appraise and quantify the relevant attributes in the choice of these channels in the Brazilian context. In-depth interviews were conducted with Internet users during the exploratory phase of the research. The evaluation of the importance of these attributes was performed through a survey among purchasers of books in electronic retail stores, using conjoint analysis methodology. The results revealed that the price was the most important attribute, followed by delivery time, positive experience in prior purchases, usability, positive recommendation from friends and the brand name of the site. The implications of these results for marketing are then discussed and suggestions for future research are presented.