IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormksc/v30y2011i4p737-752.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimizing E-tailer Profits and Customer Savings: Pricing Multistage Customized Online Bundles

Author

Listed:
  • Yuanchun Jiang

    (School of Management, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009, China)

  • Jennifer Shang

    (Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260)

  • Chris F. Kemerer

    (Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260)

  • Yezheng Liu

    (School of Management, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui 230009, China)

Abstract

Online retailing provides an opportunity for new pricing options that are not feasible in traditional retail settings. This paper proposes an interactive, dynamic pricing strategy from the perspective of customized bundling to derive savings for customers while maximizing profits for electronic retailers ("e-tailers"). Given product costs, posted prices, shipping fees, and customers' reservation prices, we propose a nonlinear mixed-integer programming model to increase e-tailers' profits by sequentially pricing customized bundles. The model is flexible in terms of the number and variety of products customers may choose to incorporate during the various stages of their online shopping. Our computational study suggests that the proposed model not only attracts more customers to purchase the discounted bundle but also noticeably increases profits for e-tailers. This online dynamic bundle pricing model is robust under various bundle sizes and scenarios. It improves e-tailer profit and customer savings the most when facing divergent views about product values, lower budgets, and higher cost ratios.

Suggested Citation

  • Yuanchun Jiang & Jennifer Shang & Chris F. Kemerer & Yezheng Liu, 2011. "Optimizing E-tailer Profits and Customer Savings: Pricing Multistage Customized Online Bundles," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(4), pages 737-752, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:30:y:2011:i:4:p:737-752
    DOI: 10.1287/mksc.1100.0631
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1100.0631
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mksc.1100.0631?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baohong Sun, 2005. "Promotion Effect on Endogenous Consumption," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 430-443, July.
    2. Amiya Basu & Padmal Vitharana, 2009. "—Impact of Customer Knowledge Heterogeneity on Bundling Strategy," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 792-801, 07-08.
    3. Kamel Jedidi & Z. John Zhang, 2002. "Augmenting Conjoint Analysis to Estimate Consumer Reservation Price," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(10), pages 1350-1368, October.
    4. Ralph L. Keeney, 1999. "The Value of Internet Commerce to the Customer," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 45(4), pages 533-542, April.
    5. Kamel Jedidi & Sharan Jagpal & Puneet Manchanda, 2003. "Measuring Heterogeneous Reservation Prices for Product Bundles," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(1), pages 107-130, July.
    6. Qiang Lu & Sridhar Moorthy, 2007. "Coupons Versus Rebates," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 67-82, 01-02.
    7. Sanjay Jain & P. K. Kannan, 2002. "Pricing of Information Products on Online Servers: Issues, Models, and Analysis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(9), pages 1123-1142, September.
    8. Zan Huang & Daniel D. Zeng & Hsinchun Chen, 2007. "Analyzing Consumer-Product Graphs: Empirical Findings and Applications in Recommender Systems," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(7), pages 1146-1164, July.
    9. Varian, Hal R, 1985. "Price Discrimination and Social Welfare," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(4), pages 870-875, September.
    10. Lorin M. Hitt & Pei-yu Chen, 2005. "Bundling with Customer Self-Selection: A Simple Approach to Bundling Low-Marginal-Cost Goods," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(10), pages 1481-1493, October.
    11. Yuxin Chen & Ganesh Iyer & Amit Pazgal, 2010. "Limited Memory, Categorization, and Competition," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 650-670, 07-08.
    12. Xianjun Geng & Maxwell B. Stinchcombe & Andrew B. Whinston, 2005. "Bundling Information Goods of Decreasing Value," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(4), pages 662-667, April.
    13. Daniel Fleder & Kartik Hosanagar, 2009. "Blockbuster Culture's Next Rise or Fall: The Impact of Recommender Systems on Sales Diversity," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(5), pages 697-712, May.
    14. Bikram Ghosh & Subramanian Balachander, 2007. "Research Note--Competitive Bundling and Counterbundling with Generalist and Specialist Firms," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(1), pages 159-168, January.
    15. Gavan J. Fitzsimons & Donald R. Lehmann, 2004. "Reactance to Recommendations: When Unsolicited Advice Yields Contrary Responses," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 82-94, September.
    16. Song Yao & Carl F. Mela, 2008. "Online Auction Demand," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(5), pages 861-885, 09-10.
    17. Shin-yi Wu & Lorin M. Hitt & Pei-yu Chen & G. Anandalingam, 2008. "Customized Bundle Pricing for Information Goods: A Nonlinear Mixed-Integer Programming Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 54(3), pages 608-622, March.
    18. R. Venkatesh & Wagner Kamakura, 2003. "Optimal Bundling and Pricing under a Monopoly: Contrasting Complements and Substitutes from Independently Valued Products," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 76(2), pages 211-232, April.
    19. Yannis Bakos & Erik Brynjolfsson, 2000. "Bundling and Competition on the Internet," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 63-82, May.
    20. Serguei Netessine & Sergei Savin & Wenqiang Xiao, 2006. "Revenue Management Through Dynamic Cross Selling in E-Commerce Retailing," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 54(5), pages 893-913, October.
    21. Yuxin Chen & Ganesh Iyer, 2002. "Research Note Consumer Addressability and Customized Pricing," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 197-208, November.
    22. Glden lkmen & Manoj Thomas & Vicki G. Morwitz, 2008. "Will I Spend More in 12 Months or a Year? The Effect of Ease of Estimation and Confidence on Budget Estimates," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 245-256, March.
    23. Ramanathan Subramaniam & R. Venkatesh, 2009. "Optimal Bundling Strategies in Multiobject Auctions of Complements or Substitutes," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 264-273, 03-04.
    24. Wedad Elmaghraby & P{i}nar Keskinocak, 2003. "Dynamic Pricing in the Presence of Inventory Considerations: Research Overview, Current Practices, and Future Directions," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(10), pages 1287-1309, October.
    25. McCardle, Kevin F. & Rajaram, Kumar & Tang, Christopher S., 2007. "Bundling retail products: Models and analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(2), pages 1197-1217, March.
    26. Füsun Gönül & Kannan Srinivasan, 1996. "Estimating the Impact of Consumer Expectations of Coupons on Purchase Behavior: A Dynamic Structural Model," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 262-279.
    27. Gerald Häubl & Valerie Trifts, 2000. "Consumer Decision Making in Online Shopping Environments: The Effects of Interactive Decision Aids," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 4-21, May.
    28. S. Sriram & Pradeep K. Chintagunta & Manoj K. Agarwal, 2010. "Investigating Consumer Purchase Behavior in Related Technology Product Categories," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(2), pages 291-314, 03-04.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yeu-Shiang Huang & Min-Sheng Yang & Jyh-Wen Ho, 2022. "Bundling Decisions for Selling Multiple Items in Online Auctions," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 19(1), pages 44-62, March.
    2. John Aloysius & Cary Deck & Amy Farmer, 2013. "Sequential Pricing of Multiple Products: Leveraging Revealed Preferences of Retail Customers Online and with Auto-ID Technologies," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 372-393, June.
    3. Kanishka Misra & Eric M. Schwartz & Jacob Abernethy, 2019. "Dynamic Online Pricing with Incomplete Information Using Multiarmed Bandit Experiments," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 38(2), pages 226-252, March.
    4. Chen, Ting & Shan, Feifei & Yang, Feng & Xu, Fengmei, 2023. "Online retailer bundling strategy in a dual-channel supply chain," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 259(C).
    5. Jiang, Yuanchun & Liu, Yezheng & Shang, Jennifer & Yildirim, Pinar & Zhang, Qingfu, 2018. "Optimizing online recurring promotions for dual-channel retailers: Segmented markets with multiple objectives," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(2), pages 612-627.
    6. Jiang, Yuanchun & Shang, Jennifer & Liu, Yezheng & May, Jerrold, 2015. "Redesigning promotion strategy for e-commerce competitiveness through pricing and recommendation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 257-270.
    7. Rong Zhang & Jiatong Li & Zongsheng Huang & Bin Liu, 2019. "Return Strategies and Online Product Customization in a Dual-Channel Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-17, June.
    8. Zhengliang Xue & Zizhuo Wang & Markus Ettl, 2016. "Pricing Personalized Bundles: A New Approach and An Empirical Study," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 51-68, February.
    9. Jiang, Guoyin & Tadikamalla, Pandu R. & Shang, Jennifer & Zhao, Ling, 2016. "Impacts of knowledge on online brand success: an agent-based model for online market share enhancement," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 248(3), pages 1093-1103.
    10. Jiang, Yuanchun & Shang, Jennifer & Liu, Yezheng, 2013. "Optimizing shipping-fee schedules to maximize e-tailer profits," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 634-645.
    11. Huang, Yeu-Shiang & Ho, Jyh-Wen & Wu, Guan-Jin, 2022. "A study on promotion with strategic two-stage customized bundling," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. Benny Mantin & Eran Rubin, 2016. "Fare Prediction Websites and Transaction Prices: Empirical Evidence from the Airline Industry," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(4), pages 640-655, July.
    13. Cao, Qingning & Tang, Yuanzhao & Perera, Sandun & Zhang, Jianqiang, 2022. "Manufacturer- versus retailer-initiated bundling: Implications for the supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    14. Ritwik Raj & Mark H. Karwan & Chase Murray & Lei Sun, 2022. "Itemized pricing in B2B bundles with diminishing reservation prices and loss averse customers," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(4), pages 375-392, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Minqiang & Feng, Haiyang & Chen, Fuzan & Kou, Jisong, 2013. "Numerical investigation on mixed bundling and pricing of information products," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 560-571.
    2. Ritwik Raj & Mark H. Karwan & Chase Murray & Lei Sun, 2022. "Itemized pricing in B2B bundles with diminishing reservation prices and loss averse customers," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(4), pages 375-392, August.
    3. Jiang, Yuanchun & Shang, Jennifer & Liu, Yezheng & May, Jerrold, 2015. "Redesigning promotion strategy for e-commerce competitiveness through pricing and recommendation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 257-270.
    4. Li, Jianbin & Liu, Lang & Luo, Xiaomeng & Zhu, Stuart X., 2023. "Interactive bundle pricing strategy for online pharmacies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    5. Huang, Yeu-Shiang & Ho, Jyh-Wen & Wu, Guan-Jin, 2022. "A study on promotion with strategic two-stage customized bundling," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    6. Vithala R. Rao & Gary J. Russell & Hemant Bhargava & Alan Cooke & Tim Derdenger & Hwang Kim & Nanda Kumar & Irwin Levin & Yu Ma & Nitin Mehta & John Pracejus & R. Venkatesh, 2018. "Emerging Trends in Product Bundling: Investigating Consumer Choice and Firm Behavior," Customer Needs and Solutions, Springer;Institute for Sustainable Innovation and Growth (iSIG), vol. 5(1), pages 107-120, March.
    7. Cao, Qingning & Geng, Xianjun & Zhang, Jun, 2015. "Strategic Role of Retailer Bundling in a Distribution Channel," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 50-67.
    8. Hemant K. Bhargava, 2013. "Mixed Bundling of Two Independently Valued Goods," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(9), pages 2170-2185, September.
    9. Tang, Yuanzhao & Perera, Sandun C. & Cao, Qingning & Ji, Xiang, 2023. "Supplier versus platform bundling: Optimal strategies under agency selling," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    10. Mayer, Stefan & Klein, Robert & Seiermann, Stephanie, 2013. "A simulation-based approach to price optimisation of the mixed bundling problem with capacity constraints," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(2), pages 584-598.
    11. Xiaoxiao Luo & Minqiang Li & Nan Feng & Fuzan Chen, 2017. "Optimal Design on Customized Bundling Strategy of Information Goods for Customers with Two-Dimensional Heterogeneity," Asia-Pacific Journal of Operational Research (APJOR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 34(02), pages 1-32, April.
    12. Sheikhzadeh, Mehdi & Elahi, Ehsan, 2013. "Product bundling: Impacts of product heterogeneity and risk considerations," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(1), pages 209-222.
    13. Jing-Sheng Song & Zhengliang Xue, 2021. "Demand Shaping Through Bundling and Product Configuration: A Dynamic Multiproduct Inventory-Pricing Model," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 69(2), pages 525-544, March.
    14. Bulut, Zümbül & Gürler, Ülkü & Sen, Alper, 2009. "Bundle pricing of inventories with stochastic demand," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 197(3), pages 897-911, September.
    15. Tarek Abdallah, 2019. "On the Benefit (Or Cost) of Large‐Scale Bundling," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(4), pages 955-969, April.
    16. Tharanga Rajapakshe & Subodha Kumar & Arun Sen & Chelliah Sriskandarajah, 2020. "Sustainability Planning for Healthcare Information Exchanges with Supplier Rebate Program," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 68(3), pages 793-817, May.
    17. Atanu Lahiri & Rajiv M. Dewan & Marshall Freimer, 2013. "Pricing of Wireless Services: Service Pricing vs. Traffic Pricing," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 418-435, June.
    18. Kopczewski, Tomasz & Sobolewski, Maciej & Miernik, Ireneusz, 2018. "Bundling or unbundling? Integrated simulation model of optimal pricing strategies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(C), pages 328-345.
    19. Mark Bender & Esther Gal‐Or & Tansev Geylani, 2022. "The emergence of streaming and its impact on pricing and product strategies of content providers," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2148-2171, September.
    20. Ashutosh Prasad & R. Venkatesh & Vijay Mahajan, 2017. "Temporal product bundling with myopic and strategic consumers: Manifestations and relative effectiveness," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 341-368, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormksc:v:30:y:2011:i:4:p:737-752. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.