Resumen de Formation and Failure of an E-Marketplace Pioneer in a Developing Country

John Effah

• The purpose of this study is to understand the formation and failure of an e-marketplace pioneer in a developing country. Much of the research on e-marketplaces focuses on the developed world. Within the limited literature on the developing world, the dominant focus has been on user adoption and related constraints. Little research thus exists on how e-marketplaces are formed and whether they succeed or fail. This study therefore follows qualitative interpretive case study methodology to investigate the formation and failure of an e-marketplace pioneer in a developing country. The findings show that the e-marketplace was formed without a clear e-business model and without enough attention to the developing country environment. The failure was subsequently caused by inability to generate revenue and failure to renew domain name license. The paper advises potential entrepreneurs to pay attention to their local environment and develop e-business models with appropriate revenue options to guide their e-marketplace initiatives.