ABSTRACT
In recent years, there has been a dynamic development and internationalisation of diverse types of Internet-based companies such as online distributors/retailers (e.g., Zalando, Neta-a-Porter) and various types of digital platforms, including e-commerce platforms (e.g., https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003617396/a8eb060a-9af2-45a1-8f39-89e8939d84ac/content/www.Amazon.com">Amazon.com, https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003617396/a8eb060a-9af2-45a1-8f39-89e8939d84ac/content/www.Alibaba.com">Alibaba.com, https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781003617396/a8eb060a-9af2-45a1-8f39-89e8939d84ac/content/www.Booking.com">Booking.com, Netflix, India Mart, eBay), that play an increasingly important role in international business in both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) markets. The internationalisation process of Internet-based firms may take different pathways and include various stages, also due to the modes of internationalisation used by a given company (not only online but also traditional, offline channels) and order of their application. The internationalisation process and foreign markets' entry modes of Internet-based firms may differ from those applied by traditional Internet-enabled companies. The chapter explores the specifics of Internet-based firms from the perspective of the internationalisation process, as well as digital internationalisation of Internet-based companies, including their internationalisation process and modes of outward internationalisation applied by these firms. The chapter discusses the results of both a literature review and multiple case studies of the digital internationalisation of Internet-based firms.
