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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

Suggested Citation

  • 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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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yanzhe (Murray) Lei & Stefanus Jasin & Amitabh Sinha, 2018. "Joint Dynamic Pricing and Order Fulfillment for E-commerce Retailers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(2), pages 269-284, May.
    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. Yun Fong Lim & Song Jiu & Marcus Ang, 2021. "Integrating Anticipative Replenishment Allocation with Reactive Fulfillment for Online Retailing Using Robust Optimization," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 23(6), pages 1616-1633, November.
    8. Oyama, Yuki & Fukuda, Daisuke & Imura, Naoto & Nishinari, Katsuhiro, 2024. "Do people really want fast and precisely scheduled delivery? E-commerce customers' valuations of home delivery timing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    9. 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.
    10. Phillip Lederer, 2011. "Competitive Delivered Pricing by Mail-Order and Internet Retailers," Networks and Spatial Economics, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 315-342, June.
    11. Pedro Amorim & Nicole DeHoratius & Fredrik Eng-Larsson & Sara Martins, 2024. "Customer Preferences for Delivery Service Attributes in Attended Home Delivery," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 70(11), pages 7559-7578, November.
    12. Konur, Dinçer, 2021. "Keep your enemy close? Competitive online brands’ expansion with individual and shared showrooms," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    13. 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.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Christine Lambey-Checchin & Odile Chanut & Rodrigue Codjovi Dogble & Joseph Kaswengi, 2025. "Signaux de prix et de durabilité : influencer les choix des consommateurs pour une livraison e-commerce plus durable," Post-Print hal-05503128, HAL.
    17. 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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