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Fraudulent returns have become increasingly frequent in the development of online retail platforms, leading to huge losses for retailers. A blockchain‐based system can help eliminate this problem primarily because the data stored in a blockchain network cannot be modified. In this paper, we study the impact of blockchain technology that aims to eliminate fraudulent return behavior on retailers and their upstream suppliers. We develop a game‐theoretic model that comprises a supplier, a retailer, and customers and analyze the equilibrium outcomes. The results show that the retailer would (not) adopt blockchain technology if the efficiency of the supplier's investment in the innovation of its products is high (low). Moreover, if the retailer's loss from the return is low (high), the adoption of blockchain technology decreases (increases) the supplier's investment and the wholesale and retail prices. In terms of its effect on profitability, we reveal that if the fraudulent return losses are high, using blockchain technology always benefits the supplier; otherwise, it increases retailer profitability and supply chain performance but may make the supplier suffer losses in profits. Interestingly, the retailer would adopt blockchain technology to ensure profitability in situations where the number of customers without fraudulent returns and the intensity of losses are low; however, this weakens supplier profitability and meanwhile reduces supply chain performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers are shifting purchasing behavior from physical stores to online vendors and increasingly relying on reviews from peers to make purchase decisions. Brands are keen to use these reviews in promotions and to facilitate product innovation. But there is an unforeseen outcome: this paper shows that when consumers rely on online reviews, they are overall less loyal to brands and more likely to purchase private label brands. Using a large North American sample from a commercial dataset, this paper empirically investigates these relationships and reports implications for retailing and marketing researchers and practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, online shopping has become one of the main consumption methods, with online retail sales reaching 13.79 trillion yuan in 2022. However, not all consumers are satisfied with their online shopping experiences. This study proposed that consumers' rational attitudes toward online shopping were an important influencing factor for their satisfaction. Additionally, consumers' trust in online shopping platforms is a mediator in the above relationship. Two studies were conducted to investigate this proposition. In Study 1, participants' rational attitudes were first operationalized by a procedure to approve their decisions. Then, their rationality, trust in online shopping platforms, and consumer satisfaction were measured. It was found that participants' rational attitudes improved their satisfaction through the mediating role of their trust in online shopping platforms. Study 2 further examined the hypotheses by providing participants with either budget alert information or no information. The results showed that such alert information increased participants' rationality and supported the findings of Study 1. Based on the results, rational consumers are more likely to be satisfied with their consumption, and trust is a key mechanism. Therefore, online shopping platforms and retailers should make efforts to improve consumers' rational attitudes and protect their rights and interests to obtain consumers' trust and a win‒win result between themselves and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Opuntia Brava is the property of Universidad de Ciencias Pedagogicas de Las Tunas, Centro de Documentacion e Informacion Pedagogica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: This research aims to investigate the showrooming phenomenon in the context of the evolving omnichannel shopping landscape, which seamlessly integrates both physical and online retail channels. Showrooming, wherein customers browse products in physical stores but ultimately purchase from online competitors, poses a potential threat to the job security and job satisfaction of sales staff in brick-and-mortar (B&M) stores. To address this issue, this study explores the relationship between showrooming, self-efficacy, sales performance, job insecurity and job satisfaction of sales staff, using the job demands-resources (JDR-R) model as a theoretical framework. Design/methodology/approach: This research employs quantitative research methods and gathers data from 219 sales staff working in Indian retail stores. Structural equation modeling is used to test the proposed hypotheses. Findings: The results indicate that showrooming is associated with a decrease in the self-efficacy, sales performance and job satisfaction of sales staff. Furthermore, the result indicates that showrooming is positively associated with increased job insecurity among the sales staff. Originality/value: This study offers valuable contributions to existing literature and offers insights for both retailers and salespeople regarding the potential repercussions of showrooming. It also suggests coping strategies to address the challenges posed by showrooming and the behavior of showroomers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this manuscript is to find the service quality factors, which influence customer satisfaction, promotional efforts taken by the retailer, and the perception of customers towards the organized retail sector. This investigation uses both offline and online retail sales datasets. Particularly, in the case of the offline retail sale dataset, an energy‐efficient analysis is conducted to collect scalable, accurate, and real‐time data. The collected data is used in enhancing several aspects of e‐commerce operations, including customer experience optimization and inventory management, which results in better decision‐making with increased efficiency. After data collection, the outliers are eliminated by implementing the z‐score technique. The removal of outliers increases the variability of collected data which reduces statistical power. The statistically sufficient data are given to the Randomized Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (RGOA) for optimal instance selection. Finally, the selected optimal instances are given to the deep neural network (DNN) model for future customer behaviour prediction. The efficacy of the RGOA‐DNN model is analysed by using evaluation measures like mean squared error (MSE), root mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), mean percentage error (MPE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE). The numerical analysis states that the RGOA‐DNN model obtained a minimal error rate with MSE of 0.09 and 0.10, RMSE of 0.13 and 0.14, MAE of 0.12 and 0.16, MPE of 0.10 and 0.11 and MAPE of 0.08 and 0.10 on the offline and online retail sales datasets. The RGOA‐DNN model has a minimal error rate in future customer behaviour prediction related to the conventional regression models. Furthermore, the elimination of inactive instances or selection of optimal instances reduces the model complexity to linear and computational time to 22.10 and 23.12 s on the offline and online retail sales datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem definition: Gift card promotions offer a tiered incentive (a gift card) to customers for purchasing regularly-priced products, with higher expenditure receiving a larger incentive. We empirically investigate the impact of gift card promotions on customer purchase behavior by collaborating with a major U.S.-based department store that targets gift card promotion emails on its online channel. Methodology/results: We use a collection of discontinuities in the retailer's targeting policies and corresponding fuzzy regression discontinuity designs to estimate localized causal effects of the gift card promotion. We find that gift card promotion provided to customers whose most recent purchase was 4 and 13 months ago, respectively, increased their purchase probability by 11.24% and 26.64%, and their average expenditure by 9.53% and 1.9%, respectively. Overall, the gift card promotion generated, on average, $100K in incremental sales per promotion from these customers alone. Furthermore, the promotion induced customers to seek out products from niche categories and increased spending on high-end brands. Gift card promotion emails also had a dominant advertisement effect, that is, customers who received the gift card promotion email increased expenditure even if they did not participate in the promotion. Managerial implications: (i) Gift card promotions are a viable strategy to boost short-term sales and to alter the distribution of the types (brand, category) of purchased products. (ii) Retailers should optimize gift card promotion tiers based on the tradeoff between increased customer expenditure and promotion expenses and consider the advertisement effect when targeting the promotion emails. (iii) Contrary to popular belief, retailers benefit from customers' redeeming gift cards because they spend more due to the gift card, validating the dual value of the delayed incentive. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/msom.2022.0218. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing online retail market has led to the prevalence of multichannel retailing. Meanwhile, retailers are increasingly combining multichannel retailing with a multibranding strategy. Although this can further increase the retailer's sales, it brings new advertising challenges. Multibrand, multichannel retailers usually launch advertising campaigns for different brands on multiple media. Thus, their advertising efforts fall into a set of brand-media units. Each unit's advertising can affect the sales of all brands on all channels. To maximize the advertising returns, a retailer needs to coordinate the advertising expenditures on different units. We develop a stochastic differential equation model that helps the retailer estimate the impact of multimedia advertising on the sales of different brands on different channels. Afterward, we formulate the advertising optimization problems under four coordination strategies: noncoordination, brand coordination, media coordination, and global coordination. By solving the problem for each strategy, the retailers can obtain the optimal expenditure for each unit under that strategy. Finally, we compare the retailer's profits under four strategies. Interestingly, we find that brand or media coordination may result in a profit lower than noncoordination. Our findings provide insights regarding the selection of coordination strategies for multibrand, multichannel retailers with multimedia advertising campaigns. The growing online retail market has led to the prevalence of multichannel retailing. Meanwhile, retailers are increasingly combining multichannel retailing with a multibranding strategy. Although this can further increase the retailer's sales, it brings new advertising challenges. Multibrand, multichannel retailers usually launch advertising campaigns for different brands on multiple media. Thus, the retailer's advertising efforts fall into a set of brand-media units. Each unit's advertising efforts can affect the sales of all brands on all channels. Therefore, retailers need to coordinate the advertising efforts of different units to maximize advertising efficiency in propelling sales. So far, the optimization problem of multibrand, multimedia advertising has not been analyzed in the literature, and our study aims to bridge this gap. We develop a stochastic differential equation model to estimate the impact of multimedia advertising on sales in a multibrand, multichannel context. Using the data from a jewelry retailer in the United States, we show that our model is effective in predicting future sales driven by advertising. Afterward, we formulate the advertising optimization problems under four coordination strategies: (i) noncoordination, (ii) brand coordination, (iii) media coordination, and (iv) global coordination. By solving the problem for each strategy, the retailers can obtain the optimal expenditure for each unit under that strategy. Finally, we compare the retailer's profits under four strategies. Interestingly, we find that brand or media coordination may result in a profit lower than noncoordination. Our findings provide insights regarding the selection of coordination strategies for multibrand, multichannel retailers with multimedia advertising campaigns, especially when they cannot do global coordination. History: Ram Gopal, Senior Editor; Huaxia Rui, Associate Editor. Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2022.0283. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to investigate information asymmetry in e-commerce supply chain channels and the impact of the fair preference model on the behavior and returns of channel members. Therefore, by contrasting it with the model in the completely rational case, this research establishes a more realistic principal-agent model and incorporates the fair preference model into the e-commerce supply chain channel. According to the model's analysis, the effort level of the retailer at each stage is positively correlated with the e-commerce efficiency coefficient, and the incentive coefficient of manufacturers is positively correlated with the e-commerce efficiency coefficient in the case where all rationality is assumed. Manufacturing companies' anticipated profits are positively correlated with the e-commerce efficiency coefficient. According to the fair preference model, retailers will put forth more effort to sell products when their fixed income from manufacturers is higher and their optimal effort level is positively correlated with that income. When e-commerce's efficiency coefficient is higher than 1, the retailer's revenue and effort exceeded those of traditional channels. Manufacturers and retailers both experience Pareto improvements in their earnings after the fair preference model is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most significant changes the business world is currently experiencing is the progressive development and adoption of digital commerce. Taking into account the rapid development of web and Internet technologies, e-commerce is increasing volumes on a global scale and is being formed as a separate branch of the economy. Every year from 30 % to 70 % businesses of all countries (regardless of their level of development) are moving to the online environment. This is especially true for business entities that carry out trading activities. The object of the study is the process of integrating multichannel sales in retail trade in Ukraine, with a focus on its impact on the efficiency and competitiveness of enterprises in the market. The problem under consideration is to determine the most effective methods and strategies for implementing e-commerce in the Ukrainian economy, which is under the influence of martial law and other socio-economic factors. The main results of the study show that the integration of online and offline sales channels significantly increases business productivity. It was found that the use of omnichannel platforms can significantly improve customer interaction and increase sales. In particular, the analysis showed that properly integrated sales channels can increase the efficiency of enterprises by 20–30 %. These results can be explained by the high level of adaptability of Ukrainian companies to new technologies and their ability to quickly integrate digital platforms into their business processes. The study also confirmed that businesses that actively use omnichannel strategies achieve higher levels of efficiency and competitiveness. In practice, these results can be applied to the real-life conditions of Ukrainian retailers. This is especially true for small and medium-sized enterprises seeking to increase their market presence through the introduction of modern technologies and the integration of various sales channels. Using the data obtained will allow companies to optimise their business models, develop effective marketing campaigns and improve customer interaction. The findings can also be applied to the analysis of omnichannel retailing and digital commerce in other countries at different stages of retail development. This study also provides practical recommendations that may be useful for international companies and academics interested in improving retail performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of the internet has transformed individual shopping behaviors, shifting from traditional shopping patterns or visiting physical stores to shopping through online platforms or e-commerce. This behavioral change has undeniably had a significant impact on the retail industry and consumers at large. With the increasing number of e-commerce users, especially in the C2C (consumer to consumer) sector, market competition is becoming more intense. This study focuses on analyzing certain factors such as website appearance, ease of use, free shipping policy, return policy, POD mode of payment, and security that can influence customer trust and its impact on repurchase intention. Data collection was conducted through the distribution of online questionnaires in the Jabodetabek area to customers who had made online purchases in the last three months, using a purposive sampling method with a total of 228 respondents. The research method analysis used the PLS-SEM method. The results of this study indicate that website appearance, free shipping policy, return policy, and security have a positive and significant effect on trust. Meanwhile, ease of use and POD mode of payment have a positive but not significant effect on trust. Furthermore, trust has a positive and significant impact on repurchase intention. This study plays a role for C2C e-commerce management in increasing consumer trust, especially among the millennial generation, and its impact on repurchase intention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Economic Series of the Bulletin of the L.N. Gumilyov ENU is the property of L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cities are expanding and becoming more populated. Citizens are becoming increasingly demanding in meeting their needs. Retail must constantly adapt to new client requirements. As a result, last-mile delivery is becoming more complex and requires new methods and innovative solutions. SMEs are becoming increasingly significant participants in the logistics chain. Transformation of last-mile delivery provides them with new development opportunities. After a short consideration of the current situation and forecasting future needs in logistics, the article detailly analyzes the importance of SMEs and the importance of modern last-mile delivery. In the second chapter, the authors analyzed modern e-commerce through the opportunities for SMEs participating in the global market and logistics chains and the challenges SMEs face. Specific attention the authors paid to the analysis of security and financing, which can be considered the most critical factors in the participation of SMEs in last-mile delivery. Some of the most common innovative logistics solutions and the need for legal regulations are analyzed below. Based on the analyses carried out in the work, in the Conclusions chapter, the conclusions reached by the authors are systematized and presented with suggestions for the continuation of the research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper establishes a supply chain under two different structures. In the first structure, one manufacturer produces a product and sells it to customers online through the e-tail channel by an e-tailer as well as traditionally through the retail channel by multiple retailers. In this setting, the manufacturer assigns responsibility of the e-tail channel to the e-tailer. In the second structure, the manufacturer establishes the e-tail channel by paying a setup cost and sells products online himself and via the retail channel by multiple retailers. First, game theory is applied to make decisions under various competitive-cooperative interactions among the members. Then, under different situations, it is investigated which structure is more beneficial from the manufacturer's view. Finally, decisions are compared and a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the effects of parametric changes on decisions. The results indicate that it is preferable for the manufacturer to open the online channel himself, if the setup cost of this channel is less than a threshold. From the whole system's perspective, it is beneficial to assign the responsibility of the e-tail channel to an e-tailer. Furthermore, the larger the number of the retailers in the retail channel, the lower profits for all members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The booming live streaming business has increased the number of consumer options for purchase channels, which has had a significant impact on firm sales models and management practices. This paper considers a multiechelon supply chain in which an upstream supplier can sell products through an online platform and a live streaming sales channel, and the online platform can choose to sign a reselling agreement or an agency selling agreement with the supplier. By constructing a Stackelberg game, we theoretically derive the equilibrium strategies of the supply chain members under different selling agreements in the presence of a live streaming sales channel. Specifically, we find that under the reselling agreement, the optimal retail price for the platform decreases with an increase in the commission rate, while the retail price for the live streaming channel always increases with an increase in the commission rate, and the relationship between the wholesale price and the commission rate depends on the ratio of the coefficient on the internet celebrity's effort for the live streaming channel to that for the online platform. Under the agency selling agreement, there is a threshold in the agency fee. The impact of the commission rate on pricing strategy on one side of the threshold is opposite that on the other side. Furthermore, we numerically explore the impacts of the system parameters on the selection of the sales model, profit, and the decision-making of the supply chain members and identify the conditions under which agency selling and reselling are chosen when there is a live streaming sales channel. Interestingly, we find that the internet celebrity should not charge a commission rate that is too large; otherwise, it harms others without benefiting the celebrity. Moreover, when the supplier chooses to hire an internet celebrity to sell goods via live streaming, the supplier should choose a celebrity with either an extremely large following or with little influence but should not choose a celebrity with only moderate influence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of e-commerce on local retail employment and its heterogeneity by employment and regional types, using Korean retail survey. Our findings reveal that the positive impact of online sales expansion is mainly confined to the growth of wage workers, though its elasticity with respect to online sales is much smaller than that of offline sales. When dividing the full sample by regional type, the positive employment effect of online sales on wage workers is significant only in non-metropolitan regions. In addition, the negative impact of online sales on non-wage workers is found only in metropolitan regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Subscription programs have become increasingly popular among a wide variety of retailers and marketplace platforms. Subscription programs give members access to a set of exclusive benefits for a fixed fee up front. In this article, the authors examine the causal effect of a subscription program on customer behavior. To account for self-selection and identify the individual-level treatment effects, they combine a difference-in-differences approach with a generalized random forests procedure that matches each member of the subscription program with comparable nonmembers. The authors find that subscription leads to a large increase in customer purchases. The effect of subscription is economically significant, persistent over time, and heterogeneous across customers. Interestingly, only one-third of the effect on customer purchases is due to the economic benefits of the subscription program, and the remaining two-thirds is attributed to the noneconomic effect. Evidence supports that members experience a sunk cost fallacy due to the up-front payment that subscription programs entail. Finally, the authors illustrate how firms can calculate the profitability of a subscription program and discuss the implications for customer retention and subscription programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Online retail platforms such as Amazon and Tmall have the ability to create personalized recommendations based on the consumer's browsing history, purchase history, and preferences by investing in data analytics capability. In practice, manufacturers may encroach on the retail market through the agency channel that sells products directly to online consumers in addition to wholesale products to retail platforms through the reselling channel. In this study, we develop a game-theoretic model to study the interplay between the manufacturer's encroachment and the online retail platform's data analytics capability investment. Our outcomes reveal that the conditions for the manufacturer to encroach become more lenient if the platform invests in data analytics capability, and we show that the investment in data analytics capability can lead to a Pareto improvement and the manufacturer can free ride on the platform's investment. Moreover, we found that the manufacturer's encroachment always creates more incentives for the platform to enhance the investment level in data analytics capability. Our research in this study provides useful insights for managers to make encroachment decisions and data analytics capability investment decisions with the manufacturer who sells through the online retail platform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to identify the factors affecting and impacting the Omni channel selection of customers in supermarket retailing, addressing a research gap in this area. Methodology: The researcher conducted an empirical study using a questionnaire distributed among 384 supermarket customers. Factor and regression analyses were performed to determine the influential factors. Results: The study found that risk management, experience and expected performance, security aspects, and customer compatibilities have individual effects on customer Omni channel selection. Additionally, recommendations were made to enhance the value of existing or future Omni channel supply chains. Theoretical contribution: This research contributes to the understanding of customer behavior in Omni-channel supermarket retailing, particularly in the context of a developing country like Sri Lanka. The findings can inform both academic and practical discussions on supply chain management and e-commerce. Practical implications: The study's recommendations can guide supermarket retailers in improving their Omni-channel strategies, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. This, in turn, can positively impact the retail industry and the broader economy of Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider a manufacturer who sells its products through an e-commerce platform. The manufacturer can decide whether to wholesale its products to the platform (namely the wholesale mode) or sell them directly to consumers through the platform and pay a commission (namely the agency mode). Meanwhile, there are two logistics service strategies within the e-commerce market, i.e., logistics service offered either by the manufacturer or the platform. Given the lack of historical samples of new products and the uncertainty of the e-commerce market, we characterize the unit cost of products and consumers' sensitivity to logistics service as uncertain variables. We explore the joint decision models for the online selling mode and logistics service strategy in the e-commerce market with uncertain information. Our findings indicate that the logistics service provided by the platform under the wholesale mode can achieve a 'win-win' outcome for both the manufacturer and the platform. However, under the agency mode, both the manufacturer and the platform prefer to take on the logistics services by themselves. Furthermore, the highest level of logistics service and the lowest retail price can be obtained when the manufacturer provides logistics service under the agency mode. The results reveal that as the uncertainty of unit cost of products or consumers' sensitivity to logistics service increases, the manufacturer and the platform can obtain greater expected profits by appropriately altering their pricing decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, I analyse the Steam platform as a configuration of several market contexts. I argue that Valve, the owner of Steam, maintains a classical retail market catering to large game publishers, while the emphasis of Valve's own game titles is in alternative market contexts based on player-driven economies. I first discuss Steam as a distinct type of platform economy due to its roots in player-driven game economies. I then introduce the notion of 'markets as fields' as my analytical framework. Based on this framework, I describe three different contexts of economic transaction: the Steam Game Store, the Steam Community Workshop and the Steam Community Market. I analyse how the approximately 46,500 game titles published on the platform are distributed across these contexts and how these games can be ranked with regard to current player numbers, and discuss Valve's position as combined platform owner, game developer and game publisher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a competitive online retail market, orders for assembled products such as refrigerators, air conditioners, smart televisions, etc., attract significant attention due to their high gross merchandise value. Unlike other regular products, product delivery has a two-stage process—delivery of product components and assembly and installation of the final product—involving multiple parties that may be internal or external to the organization. Coordination of the above activities is essential to reduce customer dissatisfaction and to curb the various waiting or demurrage costs due to delayed arrivals of goods vehicles and traveling salesman. This paper attempts to model and solve such a realistic synchronized goods delivery and service problem against the online booking. In this model, one goods vehicle starts from the company's storehouse with all the goods to be delivered and moves continually, dropping the goods at the specified locations. For service, a traveling salesman separately moves and uses the appropriate conveyances among the available ones at each node to reach the customers. This paper poses some interesting research questions to understand the requirements of separate tour paths for goods vehicles and traveling salesman along with appropriate conveyance for traveling salesman's arrival. This is an NP-hard traveling salesman problem. For solving, a varied offspring memetic algorithm (VOMA) with modified probabilistic selection, varied offspring three-parent (i.e., surro-embryos) crossover and Fibo-generation-dependent mutation is developed and tested on some standard test functions to establish its superiority over the standard ones. VOMA implementation on the above proposed problem reveals the influence of unloading and service times, halt time and third-party outsourcing charges on the final optimum route design. Finally, the paper provides a structured decision-making framework for practitioners and showcases a case study by implementing VOMA in a similar problem context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, live streaming is becoming a popular channel to sell products all over the world. Compared to traditional e-commerce channel, live streaming channel may not only bring consumers more shopping convenience, but also pose consumers more privacy concern. This paper considers a supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and an e-tailer who sells through dual channels (i.e., live streaming and traditional e-commerce) to explore how shopping convenience and privacy concern affect the optimal decisions. We build game models of two pricing (exogenous and endogenous) and two incentive contracts (wholesale price and two-part tariff). We find that the optimal promotion efforts are decreasing in shopping convenience while increasing in privacy concerns under the wholesale price contract, and independent of them under the two-part tariff contract when pricing is not a decision (such as iPhone); the optimal promotion efforts are increasing in shopping convenience while decreasing in privacy concern when pricing is a decision (such as the seasonal products). Whether the retail pricing is a decision or not, supply chain coordination can be achieved by the two-part tariff contract, but not through the wholesale price contract. Further, the two-part tariff contract is more favorable to the manufacturer if the exogenously given retail price is low, and the wholesale price contract is more favorable to the manufacturer if the retail price is high; the two-part tariff contract is always more beneficial for the supply chain than the wholesale price contract. Finally, we extend our analysis to relax a more realistic form with a variable effort elasticity and verify the robustness of the theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study an online retail marketplace's incentive to manipulate sellers' product attractiveness to consumers (e.g., through fake sales, fake reviews, or dishonest endorsement) and sellers' placement ranking. In this paper, we study an online retail marketplace's incentive to manipulate sellers' product attractiveness to consumers (e.g., through fake sales, fake reviews, or dishonest endorsement), as well as sellers' placement ranking. We design a model of an online retail marketplace with a platform that manipulates sellers' product attractiveness and sellers' organic ranking order, and the sellers decide product prices and bid for sponsored advertising space on the platform. We find that the platform may manipulate an inferior seller's product to appear more attractive to intensify sellers' competition to bid for advertising and also manipulate a superior seller's organic placement to either compensate or penalize the superior seller. We show that public policies, such as banning fake sales and fake reviews only by third-party sellers, may not necessarily eradicate manipulation on the platform if they ignore the platform's incentive for manipulation in the first place. History: Anthony Dukes served as the senior editor. Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2023.1446. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to create, using big data from user content in retail marketing, a prediction approach to predicting consumer behavior. Based on an approach with two key components, prediction is achievable. The first step is accurate big data analytics of user-generated material, highlighting the essential information and monitoring changes in user behavior (posting and purchasing) as a result of shifting value proposition variables. Second, it involves the inclusion of specialists and seasoned marketers in sociological surveys that use large samples of respondents and the probabilistic method. The value proposition structure was broken down into ten components that influence the rhetoric of user content using the stratification approach. The competitive advantages or business objectives of stores, in turn, made clear the essential categories of user content. The study focuses on Russia's most widely used digital trading platforms. The study developed an approach to the expert prediction of consumer behavior following changes in content quality and highlighted efficient digital tools for doing so using the sociological technique. The methodology for expert forecasting of consumer behavior amid changes in the quality of user content was developed using empirical, probabilistic, and sociological methods. The competitive advantage or goal of an online store was shown to be the most important element in altering consumer behavior. The proposed expert prediction methodology based on the likelihood matrix of a decline in customer conversion rates due to user content degradation is the study's scientific contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Boletín Económico de ICE is the property of S.G.E.E.I.P.C., Secretaria de Estado de Comercio, Ministerio de Industria, Comercio y Turismo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The rise of augmented reality (AR) technology presents marketers with promising opportunities to engage customers and transform their brand experience. Although firms are keen to invest in AR, research documenting its tangible impact in real-world contexts is sparse. In this article, the authors outline four broad uses of the technology in retail settings. They then focus specifically on the use of AR to facilitate product evaluation prior to purchase and empirically investigate its impact on sales in online retail. Using data obtained from an international cosmetics retailer, they find that AR usage on the retailer's mobile app is associated with higher sales for brands that are less popular, products with narrower appeal, and products that are more expensive. In addition, the effect of AR is stronger for customers who are new to the online channel or product category, suggesting that the sales increase is coming from online channel adoption and category expansion. These findings provide converging evidence that AR is most effective when product-related uncertainty is high, demonstrating the technology's potential to increase sales by reducing uncertainty and instilling purchase confidence. To encourage more impactful research in this area, the authors conclude with a research agenda for AR in marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the intersection of technology and marketing, this study develops a framework to unobtrusively detect salespeople's faces and simultaneously extract six emotions: happiness, sadness, surprise, anger, fear, and disgust. The authors analyze 99,451 sales pitches on a livestream retailing platform and match them with actual sales transactions. Results reveal that each emotional display, including happiness, uniformly exhibits a negative U-shaped effect on sales over time. The maximum sales resistance appears in the middle rather than at the beginning or end of sales pitches. Taken together, the results show that in one-to-many screen-mediated communications, salespeople should sell with a straight face. In addition, the authors derive closed-form formulae for the optimal allocation of the presence of a face and emotional displays over the presentation span. In contrast to the U-shaped effects, the optimal face presence wanes at the start, gradually builds to a crescendo, and eventually ebbs. Finally, the study shows how to objectively rank salespeople and circumvent biases in performance appraisals, thereby making novel contributions to people analytics. This research integrates new types of data and methods, key theoretical insights, and important managerial implications to inform the expanding opportunity that livestream e-commerce presents to marketers to create, communicate, deliver, and capture value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the realm of retailing, various methods of product presentation exert a significant influence on consumers' perceptions and behaviors. In the context of fashion retailing, one crucial aspect of presentation revolves around outfit coordination (OC), which can be displayed in either an assembled or unassembled manner. Assembled OC entails displaying fashion items collectively on a body, while unassembled OC involves presenting them individually on a flat background. Drawing from the literature on the Elaboration Likelihood Model of attention, this research explores the impact of assembled versus unassembled OC on consumers' imagery elaboration, attention, and product evaluations, employing three online experiments. In the first study (N = 126), we demonstrate that assembled OC, in contrast to unassembled OC, fosters greater imagery elaboration and elicits more positive product evaluations. Building upon these findings, the second study (N = 214) employs a serial mediation analysis to unveil the underlying mechanism involving shifted attention. The third study (N = 182) explores the moderating effect of fashion involvement, revealing that for consumers with a high level of fashion involvement, unassembled OC, rather than assembled OC, leads to higher levels of imagery elaboration and more favorable product evaluations. This research not only enriches the literature on online retailing and visual communication, but also provides actionable insights for industry practitioners on effectively presenting fashion products to online shoppers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondhand marketplace has received a dramatic growth as secondhand trading becomes a sustainable way of life worldwide. We propose a game-theoretical model to explore online retail platform's strategy of secondhand marketplace introduction when facing consumer's uncertain preferences. The platform sells new product for the manufacturer and decides whether to open a secondhand product for consumers to purchase secondhand product. Consumers are strategic in their purchase of new product and secondhand product in two sequential periods. We find that the presence of secondhand marketplace induces the manufacturer to lower the retail price for new product when retail price of secondhand product is low but increase the price otherwise. The secondhand marketplace may benefit the platform when the retail price of secondhand product is moderate, but may harm the platform when the price is low or high, depending on the unit production cost of new product. Interestingly, it is never optimal for the manufacturer when the retail price of secondhand product is substantially low, but may be beneficial otherwise, depending on the unit production cost of new product. Examining the value of secondhand marketplace, it creates a win–win situation for the two parties when the retail price of secondhand product is not low, and improves the consumer surplus under certain circumstances. The extended case of consumer depreciation of secondhand product verifies the robustness of the basic model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The ecofriendly and sustainable concept of bamboo- and wheat straw-made tableware has gained attention in recent years. However, it is necessary to note that these kinds of tableware are composed of melamine (MEL)–formaldehyde resin with the addition of bamboo fibers or wheat straw. This study aims to explore the potential migration of MEL and its derivatives from the tableware and conduct a risk assessment. Methods: The study involved 46 bowls or cups purchased from Internet markets or retail shops in China, whose raw materials included MEL, bamboo, and wheat straw. There were four pieces of glass- or ceramic-made tableware used as the control group. Migration testing was performed according to the test conditions selected from the European Union Reference Laboratory for Food Contact Materials. Considering the realistic worst-case scenario, we measured the concentrations of MEL and its derivatives in food simulants using ultra-performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry and estimated the exposure risks for adults and 1-year-old infants. Results: MEL and its derivatives could migrate from MEL-, bamboo-, and wheat straw-made tableware with varying concentrations. The total migration was ranked as follows: bamboo-made tableware > MEL-made tableware > wheat straw-made tableware > glass- or ceramic-made tableware (p < 0.001). The primary contributor to the total concentration for MEL- and bamboo-made tableware was MEL, whereas cyanuric acid (CYA) was the main contributor for wheat straw-made tableware. Based on the total concentration of MEL and its derivatives and the strictest TDI value, the proportions of the calculated hazard quotient ≥1 for MEL-, bamboo-, and wheat straw-made tableware in adults were 53.50%, 92.30%, and 1.90%; and the proportions in 1-year-old infants increased to 86.00%, 100.00%, and 7.40%. Conclusion: The utilization of MEL-, bamboo-, and wheat straw-made tableware could be regarded as a significant source of human exposure to MEL and its derivatives. It is advisable for both adults and infants to refrain from using tableware manufactured with MEL and bamboo fiber, as it may increase the susceptibility to MEL-related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fundamental purpose of the research is to scrutinize experimentally how customer engagement (CE) and satisfaction (CS) mediated the influence of customer experience (CX) and loyalty (CL). Purposive sampling was used to choose a sample of 220 respondents for this study of e-retailer customers. This study looked at how CE antecedents influenced CL in the e-retailer market. The analytical tool employed was Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), which utilized the AMOS 26 application package. The study's major findings revealed that CX had a favorable and considerable effect on CE and CS. CX, CE, and CS all had a positive and significant impact on CL. Furthermore, CE and CS were found to moderate the connection between e-retailer CX and CL. CE, on the other hand, had no beneficial impact on CS. Finally, the importance of this research is to show how the development of CX impacts the CE, CS, and CL of e-retailer customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking into account the impact of time factors on emission reductions and brand reputation, the reference carbon emission effect and dual-channel supply chain are incorporated into a unified analysis framework. We applied differential game theory to build models under centralized decision-making and decentralized decision-making. The aim of the research is to explore the strategies of a single manufacturer and a single retailer on product pricing, low-carbon production, and advertising. The research analyses the impact of reference carbon emission effects, cost coefficients, and interchannel substitutable coefficients on profits. In order to alleviate the double marginal effect brought about by decentralized decision-making, a cost-compensation coordination mechanism is proposed. The conclusions are as follows. First, centralized decision-making is the optimal decision-making mode, but further consultation is required to implement it voluntarily by both parties. Second, a cost-recovery contract occurs when the fixed fee that the retailer gives the manufacturer meets certain conditions. The contract can make the retailer's advertising investment reach the level of centralized decision-making and improve the member's profit under the decentralized decision-making. The coordination mechanism is effective. Third, the reference carbon emission effect can bring about an increase in the manufacturer's low-carbon production input and profits. The retailer's advertising investment is not affected by the reference carbon emission effect. Fourth, wholesale prices and online or offline retail prices are all positively correlated with the market share of the channel. The price-substitution coefficient between channels is positively correlated with both low-carbon inputs and profits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]