The platform strategy on EC market for MRO: A case study of MonotaRO Co., Ltd.

Abstract

What is the source of competitiveness of MonotaRO Co., Ltd. （MonotaRO）, the largest EC company for industrial MRO? This paper aimed at unveiling the business strategy of this company from the point of view of three Winner-Take-All （WTA） disturbance factors, multihoming cost, the number & size of niche market, and market growth. As a result, it is implied that MonotaRO maintains current customer base and induces new clients by fulfilling a WTA factor on multihoming cost, while at the same time establishes the current steadfast position by fulfilling a WTA disturbance factor on the number & size of niche market. In addition, it is implied that MonotaRO obtains the chain of temporal competitive advantage by continuous increase in the number of items along with target expansion due to the market peculiarities, therefore its strategy is different from those of mega platformers.

Keywords

• indirect material
• ec
• platform
• winner-take-all
• disturbance factor
• temporal competitive advantage