E-SALES RESEARCH PROJECT: Active Selling Through Electronic Channels and Social Media
05/2010 – 05/2012

“Persuading people through technology is the next social revolution.”
– BJ Fogg, Persuasive Technology Laboratory, Stanford University (“10 New Gurus You Should Know”, Fortune Magazine 2008)

The main object is to increase selling-centered know-how and competitiveness among Finnish companies through conducting high quality international research and seeking branch-specific best practices in the field of electronic selling and selling-intensive social media.

• To research and affect the future of e-selling interactivity and humanity and thereby offer foundations for remarkable e-selling innovations. Potential areas of innovation are: a) e-selling-centered software production, b) inter-company e-selling and operations models, c) e-selling software licensing for different commercial and non-commercial purposes
• To learn new e-selling best practices from global leaders and transmit the doctrines to different branches both horizontally (e.g. from banking to banking), contradictory (e.g. from tourism to banking) and between customer orientation (e.g. from B2C to B2B)
• To strengthen the competence of selling and e-selling in the Finnish university system
• To increase the attractiveness of selling and e-selling among talented technical and commercial people, improve the completion of graduating M.Sc. Techn. and M.Sc. Econ. in selling and e-selling, enhance the general valuation of selling and e-selling in Finland

Selling through electronic channels is a critical enabler of competitiveness both in B2C and B2B industries as electronic channels (inc. Internet and IT systems) are an irreplaceable part of customers’ buying decision process.

Nonetheless, electronic selling is often understood narrowly and mistakenly as electronic retailing (”e-commerce”/”e-retailing”/”e-tailing”). An actual understanding of active selling through electronic channels (e-selling) is nearly non-existent in the B2B and B2C environments. Instead of displaying products, offering information and/or being part of a production chain, the main focus of e-selling is to enable active and value creating selling through electronic channels. There is a distinct need for a capability to actively sell in an electronic environment so that company goals are supported and customer value is created. Knowledge related to this execution is extensively needed.

In consequence of the recent technological development, the prerequisites and tools for efficient e-selling are widely available and manageable for many different actors. Social media, increased use of Internet as an important tool in buying processes, 3D-environments and other interactive technologies (e.g. teleconferences and IP-technologies) have reached the sufficient level in order for both sellers and buyers being able to increase their operational benefits.

E-selling research project aspires to offer answers for the above-mentioned challenges through high quality international academic research. An intensive collaboration with Finnish and American companies and research networks assists us to find and study branch-specific best practices both in B2C and B2B environments. The aim is to enable the channeling of these principles into international corporate sales.

Partner firms and funding
The E-sales project is funded by Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES) and partner firms.  Tekes is the main public funding organisation for research and development in Finland. Tekes funds industrial projects as well as projects in research organisations, and especially promotes innovative, risk-intensive projects. The case firms of the project are shown below. Please click the logo in order to find more information about each firm.