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Successful retailer strategies in price comparison platforms

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  • Franz Hackl
  • Michael Hölzl‐Leitner
  • Rudolf Winter‐Ebmer
  • Christine Zulehner

Abstract

The choice of an appropriate e‐commerce strategy for the listing in price comparison platforms (eBay, Amazon, and price search engines) is crucial for the survival of online stores in B2C e‐commerce business. We use a comprehensive dataset from the Austrian price search engine geizhals.at to identify successful e‐commerce strategies with regard to these listing decisions. An e‐commerce strategy is a set of choices including the listing decision, availability decision, and decisions on a price path and shipping cost. We apply cluster analysis to identify the different strategies that have been used by online retailers. Using various success measures such as revenue, clicks, market share, and the survival of firms, as dependent variables in our regression analyses, we present causal evidence on the effectiveness of different e‐commerce strategies.

Suggested Citation

  • Franz Hackl & Michael Hölzl‐Leitner & Rudolf Winter‐Ebmer & Christine Zulehner, 2021. "Successful retailer strategies in price comparison platforms," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(5), pages 1284-1305, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:42:y:2021:i:5:p:1284-1305
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.3309
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    1. Gilles Pache, 2022. "The Impact Of Logistics On Product Assortment Policy: An Illustration With Q-Commerce," Post-Print hal-04020665, HAL.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce
    • L10 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - General

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