IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v63y2017i5p1469-1492.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Battle of the Channels: The Impact of Tablets on Digital Commerce

Author

Listed:
  • Kaiquan Xu

    (School of Business (Management) and Research Center for Business Intelligence and Technology Management, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210093, China)

  • Jason Chan

    (Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455)

  • Anindya Ghose

    (Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York 10012)

  • Sang Pil Han

    (W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85281)

Abstract

The introduction of tablets in online retailing has created an additional touchpoint through which e-commerce firms can interact with consumers. In this paper, we seek to understand and measure the causal impact of tablets on e-commerce sales. In doing so, we examine the complementary and substitution impact of the tablet channel on the smartphone and PC channels. We rely on a unique data set from Alibaba, the largest e-commerce firm in the world, and exploit a natural experiment via the iPad app introduction to empirically identify our results. The results show that users’ adoption of tablets enhanced the overall growth of Alibaba’s e-commerce market, with an annual increase of approximately US$923.5 million. Our results demonstrate that the tablet channel acts as a substitute for the PC channel while it acts as a complement for the smartphone channel. Furthermore, the use of tablets spurs casual browsing, which leads to the purchase of more impulse products and a wider diversity of products. Cross-device browsing behavior is found to enhance sales outcomes, and the degree of interrelationships between devices varies across the course of the day. We provide insights for retailers about how they can increase their sales volume and revenue in the emerging tablet economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaiquan Xu & Jason Chan & Anindya Ghose & Sang Pil Han, 2017. "Battle of the Channels: The Impact of Tablets on Digital Commerce," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(5), pages 1469-1492, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:63:y:2017:i:5:p:1469-1492
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2015.2406
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2406
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.2015.2406?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Glenn Ellison & Sara Fisher Ellison, 2006. "Internet Retail Demand: Taxes, Geography, and Online-Offline Competition," NBER Working Papers 12242, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Anindya Ghose & Avi Goldfarb & Sang Pil Han, 2013. "How Is the Mobile Internet Different? Search Costs and Local Activities," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(3), pages 613-631, September.
    3. Erik Brynjolfsson & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Mohammad S. Rahman, 2009. "Battle of the Retail Channels: How Product Selection and Geography Drive Cross-Channel Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(11), pages 1755-1765, November.
    4. Marco Caliendo & Sabine Kopeinig, 2008. "Some Practical Guidance For The Implementation Of Propensity Score Matching," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 31-72, February.
    5. West, Joel & Mace, Michael, 0. "Browsing as the killer app: Explaining the rapid success of Apple's iPhone," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(5-6), pages 270-286, June.
    6. Anindya Ghose & Michael D. Smith & Rahul Telang, 2006. "Internet Exchanges for Used Books: An Empirical Analysis of Product Cannibalization and Welfare Impact," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 17(1), pages 3-19, March.
    7. Puneet Manchanda & Grant Packard & Adithya Pattabhiramaiah, 2015. "Social Dollars: The Economic Impact of Customer Participation in a Firm-Sponsored Online Customer Community," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(3), pages 367-387, May.
    8. Austan Goolsbee, 2001. "Competition in the Computer Industry," NBER Working Papers 8351, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Meyer, Bruce D, 1995. "Natural and Quasi-experiments in Economics," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 13(2), pages 151-161, April.
    10. Overby, Jeffrey W. & Lee, Eun-Ju, 2006. "The effects of utilitarian and hedonic online shopping value on consumer preference and intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(10-11), pages 1160-1166, October.
    11. Erik Brynjolfsson & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Michael D. Smith, 2003. "Consumer Surplus in the Digital Economy: Estimating the Value of Increased Product Variety at Online Booksellers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(11), pages 1580-1596, November.
    12. Gerpott, Torsten J. & Thomas, Sandra & Weichert, Michael, 2013. "Characteristics and mobile Internet use intensity of consumers with different types of advanced handsets: An exploratory empirical study of iPhone, Android and other web-enabled mobile users in German," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 357-371.
    13. 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.
    14. Austan Goolsbee, 2001. "Competition in the Computer Industry: Online Versus Retail," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(4), pages 487-499, December.
    15. Prince, Jeffrey T., 2007. "The beginning of online/retail competition and its origins: An application to personal computers," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 139-156, February.
    16. Gérard P. Cachon & Christian Terwiesch & Yi Xu, 2008. "On the Effects of Consumer Search and Firm Entry in a Multiproduct Competitive Market," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 461-473, 05-06.
    17. Austan Goolsbee, 2001. "Competition in the Computer Industry: Online Versus Retail," NBER Chapters, in: E-commerce, pages 487-499, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Chris Forman & Anindya Ghose & Avi Goldfarb, 2009. "Competition Between Local and Electronic Markets: How the Benefit of Buying Online Depends on Where You Live," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 47-57, January.
    19. Rook, Dennis W, 1987. "The Buying Impulse," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(2), pages 189-199, September.
    20. Anindya Ghose & Sang Pil Han, 2011. "An Empirical Analysis of User Content Generation and Usage Behavior on the Mobile Internet," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(9), pages 1671-1691, September.
    21. James J. Heckman & Hidehiko Ichimura & Petra Todd, 1998. "Matching As An Econometric Evaluation Estimator," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(2), pages 261-294.
    22. Moulton, Brent R, 1990. "An Illustration of a Pitfall in Estimating the Effects of Aggregate Variables on Micro Unit," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 334-338, May.
    23. repec:bla:jindec:v:49:y:2001:i:4:p:487-99 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Erik Brynjolfsson & Yu (Jeffrey) Hu & Mohammad S. Rahman, 2009. "Battle of the Retail Channels: How Product Selection and Geography Drive Cross-Channel Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(11), pages 1755-1765, November.
    2. Qian Tang & Mei Lin & Youngsoo Kim, 2021. "Inter‐Retailer Channel Competition: Empirical Analyses of Store Entry Effects on Online Purchases," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(8), pages 2547-2563, August.
    3. Duch-Brown, Néstor & Grzybowski, Lukasz & Romahn, André & Verboven, Frank, 2017. "The impact of online sales on consumers and firms. Evidence from consumer electronics," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 30-62.
    4. Nishtha Langer & Chris Forman & Sunder Kekre & Baohong Sun, 2012. "Ushering Buyers into Electronic Channels: An Empirical Analysis," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 23(4), pages 1212-1231, December.
    5. Chris Forman & Anindya Ghose & Avi Goldfarb, 2009. "Competition Between Local and Electronic Markets: How the Benefit of Buying Online Depends on Where You Live," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(1), pages 47-57, January.
    6. Laurina Zhang, 2018. "Intellectual Property Strategy and the Long Tail: Evidence from the Recorded Music Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 24-42, January.
    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. Julia Bock-Schappelwein & Michael Böheim & Elisabeth Christen & Stefan Ederer & Matthias Firgo & Klaus Friesenbichler & Werner Hölzl & Mathias Kirchner & Angela Köppl & Agnes Kügler & Christine Mayrhu, 2018. "Politischer Handlungsspielraum zur optimalen Nutzung der Vorteile der Digitalisierung für Wirtschaftswachstum, Beschäftigung und Wohlstand," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 61256.
    9. Chiou, Lesley & Kafali, E. Nilay & Rysman, Marc, 2020. "Internet use, competition, and geographical rescoping in Yellow Pages advertising," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    10. Dong, Shuang & Qin, Zhongfeng & Yan, Yingchen, 2022. "Effects of online-to-offline spillovers on pricing and quality strategies of competing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    11. Yongjin Park & Youngsok Bang & Jae-Hyeon Ahn, 2020. "How Does the Mobile Channel Reshape the Sales Distribution in E-Commerce?," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(4), pages 1164-1182, December.
    12. Yuqian Xu & Anindya Ghose & Binqing Xiao, 2024. "Mobile Payment Adoption: An Empirical Investigation of Alipay," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 35(2), pages 807-828, June.
    13. Chun, Hyunbae & Joo, Hailey Hayeon & Kang, Jisoo & Lee, Yoonsoo, 2020. "Diffusion of E-Commerce and Retail Job Apocalypse: Evidence from Credit Card Data on Online Spending," CEI Working Paper Series 2020-7, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    14. Hohendanner Christian, 2011. "Ein-Euro-Jobs und reguläre Beschäftigung / One-Euro-Jobs and Regular Employment: Eine Analyse potenzieller Substitutionseffekte mit Daten des IAB-Betriebspanels / An Analysis of Potential Substitution," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 231(2), pages 210-246, April.
    15. Anindya Ghose & Sang Pil Han, 2014. "Estimating Demand for Mobile Applications in the New Economy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(6), pages 1470-1488, June.
    16. Yan, Yingchen & Zhao, Ruiqing & Liu, Zhibing, 2018. "Strategic introduction of the marketplace channel under spillovers from online to offline sales," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(1), pages 65-77.
    17. Kory Kroft & Devin G. Pope, 2014. "Does Online Search Crowd Out Traditional Search and Improve Matching Efficiency? Evidence from Craigslist," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 32(2), pages 259-303.
    18. Kopalle, Praveen & Biswas, Dipayan & Chintagunta, Pradeep K. & Fan, Jia & Pauwels, Koen & Ratchford, Brian T. & Sills, James A., 2009. "Retailer Pricing and Competitive Effects," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 56-70.
    19. Ratchford, Brian T., 2009. "Online Pricing: Review and Directions for Research," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 82-90.
    20. Mingfeng Lin & Henry C. Lucas & Galit Shmueli, 2013. "Research Commentary ---Too Big to Fail: Large Samples and the p -Value Problem," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 906-917, December.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:63:y:2017:i:5:p:1469-1492. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.