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The shipping strategies of internet retailers: Evidence from internet book retailing

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  • Emin Dinlersoz
  • Han Li

Abstract

Managing the shipment of goods to consumers is one of the central aspects of retail competition on the internet. In this article, we analyze internet retailers’ shipping strategies using data from the internet book retailing industry. We find that, controlling for a variety of observable firm characteristics, firms with lower product prices offer lower shipping fees and higher quality shipping in terms of average delivery time, compared to firms with higher product prices. These patterns cannot be readily reconciled with a large class of models of competition under perfect consumer information. Theories based on imperfect consumer information can explain the findings better. Copyright Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2006

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  • Emin Dinlersoz & Han Li, 2006. "The shipping strategies of internet retailers: Evidence from internet book retailing," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 4(4), pages 407-438, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:qmktec:v:4:y:2006:i:4:p:407-438
    DOI: 10.1007/s11129-006-9010-4
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    Cited by:

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    2. Yuki Oyama & Daisuke Fukuda & Naoto Imura & Katsuhiro Nishinari, 2022. "E-commerce users' preferences for delivery options," Papers 2301.00666, arXiv.org, revised Aug 2023.
    3. Anindya Ghose & Yuliang Yao, 2011. "Using Transaction Prices to Re-Examine Price Dispersion in Electronic Markets," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 22(2), pages 269-288, June.
    4. Ben-Shahar, Danny & Golan, Roni, 2022. "Price dispersion and time-on-market in the housing market," Journal of Housing Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(PB).
    5. Jifeng Luo & Han Zhang & Haizheng Li, 2018. "Pricing strategies in online book industry: a comparative study," Information Systems and e-Business Management, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 791-816, November.
    6. T. M. Rofin & Biswajit Mahanty, 2021. "Fulfillment mode selection for Indian online sellers under free and flat rate shipping policies," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 263-296, June.
    7. Gauri, Dinesh K. & Jindal, Rupinder P. & Ratchford, Brian & Fox, Edward & Bhatnagar, Amit & Pandey, Aashish & Navallo, Jonathan R. & Fogarty, John & Carr, Stephen & Howerton, Eric, 2021. "Evolution of retail formats: Past, present, and future," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 97(1), pages 42-61.
    8. Phillip Lederer, 2011. "Competitive Delivered Pricing by Mail-Order and Internet Retailers," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 315-342, June.
    9. Konur, Dinçer, 2021. "Keep your enemy close? Competitive online brands’ expansion with individual and shared showrooms," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    10. Ratchford, Brian & Soysal, Gonca & Zentner, Alejandro & Gauri, Dinesh K., 2022. "Online and offline retailing: What we know and directions for future research," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(1), pages 152-177.
    11. He, Qingxin & Lee, Jonathan M., 2016. "The effect of coal combustion byproducts on price discrimination by upstream industries," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 11-24.
    12. Li, Han & Dinlersoz, Emin, 2012. "Quality-based Price Discrimination: Evidence from Internet Retailers’ Shipping Options," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 276-290.
    13. Becerril-Arreola, Rafael & Leng, Mingming & Parlar, Mahmut, 2013. "Online retailers’ promotional pricing, free-shipping threshold, and inventory decisions: A simulation-based analysis," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 230(2), pages 272-283.

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