The goal of this paper was to investigate the effectiveness of e-marketplaces for Cape Town's Small and Medium Retailers (SMRs). With the rise of e-commerce, small and medium retailers (SMRs) must find ways to stay connected to customers; geographical barriers should not be an impediment to their relationship with customers. The problem is that many South African small and medium enterprises (SMRs) have a difficult time adopting effective e-commerce trading platforms. Within a South African context, literature does not distinguish between e-commerce and e-marketplaces for SMRs. SMRs have been slow to adopt e-commerce, and an alternative to help SMRs take advantage of e-marketplaces has not been fully explored. The use of electronic marketplaces (EMs) is regarded as an easy and viable way for small and medium retailers to connect with customers and suppliers. The innovation diffusion theory (IDT) or diffusion of innovation (DOI) was used for this study. The effectiveness of electronic...
Author - Virimai Victor MUGOBO
Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa
The South African retail apparel industry has and continues to undergo major digitisation. This movement better known as e-tailing has pioneered over the years and proven to be a lucrative way of trading. As a developing market, e-tailing has seen increased growth with great potential for new entrants to thrive. Only a small number of e-tailers were dominating the South African online apparel industry. In order to understand and further promote success in e-tailing, the researchers identified the need to determine the critical success factors of leading apparel e-tailers in South Africa. Identifying the CSFs proved to be an integral part of successful e-tailer survival. The objective of this study was, therefore, to establish and delve into the CSFs of both leading pure-play online apparel e-tailers and omnichannel or hybrid retailers based in Cape Town, South Africa. The study adopted a multiple case study approach and a qualitative methodology was used by employing an interpretive...
Modern democratic governance dictates transparency and accountability by public entities in order to ensure good governance. Despite this fact, the City of Cape Town, motivated by a need to reorient its logo and pay-off line to its strategic intent, unilaterally appointed a contractor to design a new logo and pay –off line for the City. This paper interrogates this phenomenon using two theoretical lenses namely the agency theory and marketing communication theory. Using a qualitative methodology, the study sought to ascertain the local stakeholders’ perception of the City brand after the introduction of the new logo and pay – off line. Some purposively sampled residents were interviewed using a semi-structured interview schedule. Some open- ended interviews were also held with experts in marketing and communication. Primary data from research was infused with secondary data. The study found out that the City authorities did not quite live up to the dictates of transparency by acting...
