Early adopters of the Web as a retail medium: small company winners and losers

From July 1995 until July 1996 we followed a group of small companies that were retailing on the Web. We surveyed our sample three times over this period, collecting both quantitative and qualitative data and visible data from their Web sites. Our intention was to initiate research into successful Web‐based retail ‐ put simply, what makes a small company successful on the Web? Using ideas from grounded theory and our findings, we suggest important factors and constructs that can be used for further work in this area.