A Product-Process Matrix for Electronic B2C Operations

Electronic business-to-customer (B2C) operations are making it possible for companies to deliver service products—conceptualized as bundles of physical goods, offline services, and digital content—to customers almost anywhere and at any time. In this article, the authors develop a product-process matrix for electronic B2C operations. The building blocks of the matrix are an electronic service product structure and an electronic service process structure. The electronic service product structure, characterized by the digital content of service products and the target market segment, defines four service product categories. The electronic service process structure, characterized by the flexibility of process technologies, defines four service process stages. Positions on the matrix capture the product-process interrelationships in electronic B2C operations. The authors present propositions relating customer value to positions on the product and process structures and on the matrix. They also present illustrative applications of the matrix to examine the B2C operations of two electronic food retailers.