Internet and mature industries. Its role in the creation of value in the supply chain. The case of tile ceramic manufacturers and distributors in Spain

For traditional industries it is a real challenge, not only to achieve a clear product differentiation, but also to provide adequate services in order to ensure value and customer fidelity.IT and, especially Internet are playing a relevant role in this area and include radical innovation in their new approach. High tech and/or service firms such as Cisco, Apple, eBay, Amazon, and E Dreams. are most cited cases. However, what can be the role of Internet with those traditional industries considered low tech such as textile, furniture, and shoes? This paper will try to answer this question and fill a research gap.The paper conclusions could be surprising for some researchers since, in spite of their low tech culture, IT and Internet not only provide competitive marketing tools, but also seem to be efficient facilitators for capturing valuable information from the final customers of traditional industries where the paradigm has been, until recently, production push.The goal of this research is to contribute to the understanding of the role of ICT and Internet in value creation in the mature tile ceramics industry, which has become highly globalised in the actual decade and has rapidly evolved from a production-push to a customer-demand model.The methodology is based on a survey carried out among a representative sample of tile ceramics manufacturers and distributors in Spain, supported by a large number of field interviews and the analysis of the financial databases of the sample. Basically, we evaluated the innovative services and interaction tools offered by the sample firms and the penetration of e-commerce in two critical elements of the value chain: manufacturing and distribution.