7.2. Cordeiro, W.P. 2003. "A Case Study: How a Retail Jewelry Store Learned to Compete in the E- Commerce Market Place." Journal of Internet Commerce 2(1): 19-28.
The study describes how a retail jewelry store in a large city transitions from a traditional marketing strategy (signs, print and radio advertising, aggressive sales staff) to selling over the Internet. The implementation of an e-commerce strategy creates problems in terms of project management (deadlines, staffing, and testing) and adaptation to a new marketing culture. The store notes that their Internet customers are more knowledgeable buyers, and that e-sales tend to be for different merchandise than in-store sales. The net effect of adopting e- commerce is to reverse the decline in sales and improve staff morale. Firm profits, however, do not return to prior levels because the store's high-margin items are not big sellers over the Internet.