Problem Definition: Scan Based Trading (SBT) represents a type of replenishment system in which the supplier retains title until the product is scanned through checkout at the retail store by the consumer. Although SBT carries potential bene ts for both parties in the supplier-retailer dyad, it...

To influence demand, some online retailers post messages (e.g., “5 units or less left in stock”) on their product pages to signal impending stockouts. These “scarcity” messages provide consumers “partial” inventory information, revealing only an upper bound on the number of units...

This paper empirically investigates relationships among markups, service quality, and product attributes across customer, Internet-retailer, and wholesaler echelons. Recent literature has documented the reality of retail price dispersion, but little is known about how retail markups, in...

Time and form postponement are key to the cost-effective fulfillment of product demand when market volatility is high. Using data from U.S. manufacturing firms, an empirical model suggests that the implementation of time postponement supports the adoption of form postponement. In turn, form...

Over the past decade, manufacturing firms have implemented enterprise-wide information systems in order to improve their performance. In many cases, the achieved results have been much less than anticipated. Previous research suggests that in order to realize maximum performance improvements it...

Beyond all the fancy Web sites and 24-hour, in-your-pajamas shopping convenience, it is excellence in distribution, transportation, and inventory management that leads to Internet retailing success. With store-related costs gone, logistics expenses have become an even larger part of the...

Internet retailers intermediate online markets by setting prices, matching wholesalers' supply with consumers' demand, affording inventory liquidity, and meeting fulfillment guarantees to consumers. Little attention has been given to studying the two latter intermediation functions. To fill this...

The collaborative fulfillment of consumer orders by Internet retailers and wholesalers has proven important in the realization of sustainable levels of online profitability. Concentrating on consumer direct fulfillment (or drop shipping), an empirical simulation model evaluates avenues for...

Consumers' access to the Internet has greatly expanded their ability to compare offers across a wide array of retailers. In some particular industries (i.e., music), the Internet has also provided consumers with unprecedented opportunities to consider retail offers involving physical goods...

Recent research suggests that the sales rate of a product would increase immediately after a seller posts a "scarcity message" to alert potential consumers that there are only a few units left in inventory. Knowing this effect, should an online seller post scarcity messages? In this technical...