
Value Chain is a term conceived during the 1980s by the Harvard Business School professor of Business and Economics, Michael Eugene Porter, to name the set of activities carried out by a company, which are intended to add value to a product. or service to the final consumer.
In this context, understand “value” as the importance that a product or service represents to the consumer. This amount must be greater than what the company used to produce them. This is what will effectively generate profit and competitiveness for the organization.
According to Porter, a company (which can be your online store, for example) can add value to a product or service at any and every point in the so-called Value Chain, which is composed of:
• Primary activities
It is the work directly related to the production or transformation of the product or service. For example: operations, logistics indoor and outdoor, Marketing and sales, service after sales.
• Secondary activities
These are work to support primary activities, including procurement, human resources, technology and infrastructure.
By analyzing each stage of the Value Chain of your e-commerce business, you will be able to discover cost advantages (more economical solutions than those used by your competitors) and differentiation advantages (solutions in products and services that offer greater reduction of pain and better performance to consumers).
The sum of all the “small” values conquered along the chain will provide your company (in the end) with a great competitive advantage over competing e-commerces. This, in turn, will make you gain more customers and make more profit.