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Convenience pricing in online retailing: Evidence from Amazon.com

Author

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  • Chenavaz, Régis
  • Drouard, Joeffrey
  • Escobar, Octavio R.
  • Karoubi, Bruno

Abstract

To expedite payments, firms use convenience pricing strategies. A price is considered convenient if it can be paid with few coins. Convenient prices are well understood in offline retailing, but not online. This article fills the gap, examining an original panel dataset more than 2.5 million observations of book prices from Amazon.com. We provide empirical evidence supporting two claims. First in a static setup, more convenient prices are more likely to be set. Second in a dynamic setup, more convenient prices are more rigid. Emphasizing the role of convenience, this work sheds new light on price setting in online retailing.

Suggested Citation

  • Chenavaz, Régis & Drouard, Joeffrey & Escobar, Octavio R. & Karoubi, Bruno, 2018. "Convenience pricing in online retailing: Evidence from Amazon.com," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 127-139.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:70:y:2018:i:c:p:127-139
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2017.10.016
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    Cited by:

    1. Snir, Avichai & Chen, Haipeng (Allan) & Levy, Daniel, 2022. "Zero-Ending Prices, Cognitive Convenience, and Price Rigidity," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 203, pages 519-542.
    2. Régis Chenavaz & Corina Paraschiv & Gabriel Turinici, 2021. "Dynamic Pricing of New Products in Competitive Markets: A Mean-Field Game Approach," Dynamic Games and Applications, Springer, vol. 11(3), pages 463-490, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Convenient prices; Price rigidity; Rational inattention; Amazon.com; Online retailing;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D11 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Theory
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D40 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design - - - General
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics

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