Millions of nanostores around the world face the prospect of digitization, which promises to create significant operational benefits. At the same time, however, digitization may be a risky endeavor. Through the application of a survey and experiments in the field with hundreds of shopkeepers, we...

We analyze the incentives for incumbent bricks-and-mortar firms and newentrants to start an online retail channel in a differentiated goods market. Tothis end we set up a two-stage model where firms first decide whether or notto build the infrastructure necessary to start an online retail...