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Valuing Internet Retailers: Amazon and Barnes and Noble

Author

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  • Judith A. Chevalier

    (Yale University, School of Management)

  • Austan Goolsbee

    (University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business)

Abstract

Many Internet retailers must raise margins in the future if they are to survive. This raises the important issues of whether they will be able to raise margins as well as how valuation estimates made today should evaluate projected changes to margins in the future. In this paper, we describe retail strategies of pricing for market share in growing markets and show how measures of the price elasticity of demand facing retailers in the current year can be combined with standard accounting variables to inform calculations about future margins. Our analysis suggests that the capital market projects greater future margin improvements for Amazon.com than for BN.com and that this may be due to Amazon benefiting from network effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Judith A. Chevalier & Austan Goolsbee, 2003. "Valuing Internet Retailers: Amazon and Barnes and Noble," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm416, Yale School of Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:ysm:somwrk:ysm416
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    File URL: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=441480
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    Cited by:

    1. Judith A. Chevalier & Dina Mayzlin, 2003. "The Effect of Word of Mouth on Sales: Online Book Reviews," NBER Working Papers 10148, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Meiseberg, Brinja, 2016. "The Effectiveness of E-tailers’ Communication Practices in Stimulating Sales of Niche versus Popular Products," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 319-332.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms

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