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Online marketing: When to offer a refund for advanced sales

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  • Wu, Meng
  • Teunter, Ruud H.
  • Zhu, Stuart X.

Abstract

Advance selling is a marketing strategy commonly used by online retailers to increase sales by exploiting consumer valuation uncertainty. Recently, some online retailers have started to allow refunds on products sold in advance. On the one hand this reduces the net advance sales, but on the other hand it allows a higher advance sales price. This research is the first to explore the overall effect of allowing a refund on profits from advance sales, identifying conditions where advance selling with or without refunds (or no advance selling at all) is best. We analytically compare the profits of three advance selling strategies: none, without refund, and with refund. We show that selling in advance and allowing a refund is optimal for products with a relatively small profit margin and small strategic market size, and that the added profit can be considerable. Our results guide managers in selecting the right advance selling strategy. To facilitate this, we graphically display, based on the two dimensions of regular profit margin and strategic market size, under what conditions the different strategies are optimal.

Suggested Citation

  • Wu, Meng & Teunter, Ruud H. & Zhu, Stuart X., 2019. "Online marketing: When to offer a refund for advanced sales," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 471-491.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ijrema:v:36:y:2019:i:3:p:471-491
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2018.11.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    4. Zhang, Kun & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Chung, Sai-Ho & Dai, Yue & Wen, Xin, 2024. "Blockchain adoption in retail operations: Stablecoins and traceability," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 315(1), pages 147-160.
    5. Amaradri Mukherjee & Ronn J. Smith & Scot Burton, 2023. "The effect of positive anticipatory utility on product pre‑order evaluations and choices," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(3), pages 551-569, May.
    6. Maxime C. Cohen & Michael D. Fiszer & Baek Jung Kim, 2022. "Frustration-Based Promotions: Field Experiments in Ride-Sharing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(4), pages 2432-2464, April.

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