Exploring the Operational Success of Grocery E-commerce: A Configurational Approach

The growth of online grocery e-commerce has attracted significant academic interest. Although existing studies have contributed to our understanding, they have not fully explored the complex interplay of contextual factors in online grocery warehousing. In this study, we draw on the IT-enabled operational capability perspective and apply a configurational approach to investigate the effective combinations of operational capabilities that lead to high sales performance. We conducted a QCA analysis based on a unique dataset of transactional records from 39 stores operated by a dominant grocery e-commerce company in central China. Our analysis identified four configurations associated with high revenue and two configurations associated with low/medium revenue. Specifically, our findings suggest that different combinations of operational capabilities with product market positioning are critical for achieving high levels of operational success. We discuss the theoretical contributions and practical implications of our findings.