Role of Intermediaries

Abstract

Early research in electronic markets seemed to suggest that E-Commerce transactions would result in decreased costs for buyers and sellers alike, and would therefore ultimately lead to the elimination of intermediaries from electronic value chains. However, a careful analysis of the structure and functions of electronic marketplaces reveals a different picture. Intermediaries provide many value-adding functions that cannot be easily substituted or ‘internalised’ through direct supplier-buyer dealings, and hence mediating parties may continue to play a significant role even in the E-Commerce world. In this paper we provide an analysis of the potential roles of intermediaries in electronic markets and we articulate a number of hypotheses for the future of intermediation in such markets. Three main scenarios are discussed: the disintermediation scenario where market dynamics will favour direct buyer-seller transactions, the reintermediation scenario where traditional intermediaries will be forced to differentiate themselves and reemerge in the electronic marketplace, and the cybermediation scenario where wholly new markets for...