Differences in Salespeople’s Adoption of E-commerce Channels Over Time
(A2023-114460)

AUTHORS

Skyler Xie, University of Warwick; Roland Kassemeier, University of Warwick; Johannes Habel, University of Houston; Sascha Alavi, University of Bochum

ABSTRACT

Introducing an e-commerce channel to salespeople has become a core initiative of digital transformation for industrial companies. However, whether salespeople actually adopt the e-commerce channel and what fundamentally influences their adoption over time remains unclear. We draw on channel capability theory to conceptualize salespeople’s adoption of e-commerce channels and suggest it to depend on their evaluation of its potential to improve their efficiency and effectiveness. We analyse data from a B2B trading company comprising performance data of 342 salespeople over 47 months by applying a growth modelling approach. Results show that salespeople’s e-commerce channel adoption varies between salespeople and that the efficiency and effectiveness potential that the e-commerce channel offers to salespeople influences their adoption over time. Our results provide evidence that the adoption of an e-commerce channel continuously enhances salespeople’s revenue growth in the long run.