Applying a Framework for Analyzing the Roles and Relationships of
Cybermediaries on Selected Middle East Cases
Abstract
e-commerce adoption has caused the marketplace to undergo transformation
from intermediation as in the case of traditional retailers who help
selling goods for bricks-and-mortar companies, to the disintermediation
stage that has resulted from companies selling their products directly
over the internet, to the current stage of reintermediation realizing
the importance of Internet Intermediaries that have caused disruption to
the traditional supply chain and gave rise to new business models. It is
evident how Internet Intermediaries –known as cybermediaries - are
playing an important role in the internet marketplace and how they
generate revenues from their activities and revolutionize the way
suppliers manage their supply chain. Past research noted that despite
the emergence of new e-commerce business models, little has been done to
investigate these business models. In the context of this research
(Middle East), it becomes increasingly important to investigate the
existing cybermediaries business models which is useful to new entrants
to ecommerce fields. Based on a framework adopted from Barnesa and
Hinton (2007), business models of selected Middle East cybermediaries
and their characteristics will be revealed, evaluated, and documented.
Having a clear idea about business models is beneficial for online
startup companies as well as existing businesses (Chaffey, 2015).