Tillväxt eller lönsamhet? : - En studie om strategisk positionering på e-handelsmarknaden inom detaljhandelsbranschen

Sammanfattning: As a result of the digitalisation and thereby new ways of living, the retail industry has changed fundamentally. Furthermore, the e-commerce market is experiencing rapid growth and a shift from physical traditional commerce, to e-commerce. Thus, ecommerce companies are characterized by low profitability, despite high growth and favourable conditions, and for this, there are several contradictory explanations. One explanation is that companies have not succeeded to strategically positioning themselves, which has become more important due to the increased competition. The purpose of the study is to describe how the changed retail industry and the rapidly growing e-commerce market affect e-commerce companies. Furthermore, the study aims to increase the understanding of how e-commerce companies can strategically positioning the company and how to balance growth and profitability. The study is written on the basis of a qualitative approach. The empirical material has been obtained through semi-structured interviews at three e-commerce companies in the retail industry, as well as through the companies' five most recent annual reports. The conclusion indicates that the changing retail industry and the rapidly growing e-commerce market are affecting e-commerce companies mainly through three factors: the shift, accessibility and global competition. E-commerce companies strategically position themselves through more or less successful niches, which is reflected in the financial outcome, in order to be competitive. Furthermore, the study shows that there are two approaches to balance growth and profitability: the first is to have profitable growth as a goal, where growth must not occur at the expense of the company's profitability. The second way is to prioritize growth at the expense of profitability. Finally, a differentiation strategy together with market development as a growth strategy and profitability as the primary objective, is expected to contribute to both profitability and growth in e-commerce companies.