Cross-channel cooperation: a collaborative approach ofintegrating online and offline business models

Due to the increasing use of e-business technologies, thecorresponding Net Economy has evolved into an established trade level. It ischaracterized by numerous entrepreneurial ventures equipped with innovativeonline business models. Technological advance and changes in customerbehaviour implicate that the physical and the electronic trade level areincreasingly used complementarily. In order to be successful on both tradelevels, traditional firms and Internet-based ventures inevitably need toapproach each other. In this paper, we argue that collaborative conceptsrepresent a promising way of meeting the resulting requirements. Crosschannelcooperation enables firms to integrate online and offline businessmodels without extending themselves beyond their own means orcompetencies. Building upon market- and resource-based considerations, weargue why and how cross-channel cooperation contributes to competitiveadvantage and propose a classification of the resulting forms of collaboration....