• Knowledge Management Research
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.109-132
• /
• 2015

We examine offline and online channel sales of experience goods, and compare and contrast the sales patterns of existing products and new products between channels. To this end, we obtain the channel-specific time-series sales data from the leading company selling beauty products, both offline and online. By applying the Vector Autoregressive Model, we empirically find out how the relationship between existing products and new products changes between the shopping channels. Our empirical findings are as follows. First, the sales effects from existing products to new products are significantly positive at both offline and online channels, and this positive effect is greater in the offline channel than in the online channel. Second, the influence of new products on existing products is more positive in the offline channel than in the online channel. Third, the impact of existing products sales on new products sales is greater than that of new products on existing products. Lastly, the inertia effect, the effect within the same shopping channel and the same selling product, is significantly positive in the offline channel but not in the online channel, and this asymmetric inertia effect emerges as we focus on experience goods. Moreover, the impulse response function analysis provides the three important implications. First, companies should pay attention to the same channel but different types of products. Second, the offline channel is more vulnerable to market shock than the online channel. Third, new products sales vary by existing products sales to the greater extent, compared to the opposite relationship. We believe our study contributes theoretically and practically to the fields of marketing and knowledge management.

• Knowledge Management Research
• /
• v.17 no.3
• /
• pp.45-64
• /
• 2016

As the digital retail environement becomes prevalent, consumers are given greater opportunities to make purchases across physical and digital boundaries. Prior research emphasizes that the attractiveness of the digital or online channel is relatively determined by spatial specifics of physical locations. The overall market trend combined with prior research suggests that understanding spatial specifics becomes a key to managing both offline and online sales performance together. In this study, we focus on geographic variation in sales performance through offline and online channels and aim to investigate the channel-level sales difference between central and subsidiary areas. To this end, we obtain sales data of skincare and makeup products from a leading cosmetic company. Next, we examine spatial autocorrelations in data and then employ the spatial error models to study the effects of spatial specifics. The empirical findings are as follows. First, there are significant differences in category-specific and channel-level sales between central and subsidiary areas. Second, Moran's I statistics demonstrate the spatial autocorrelations of each variable. Third, spatial error models outperform simple regression models with lower AIC values. Finally, spatial specifics play a greater role in understanding online sales in subsidiary areas whereas they exert greater influence on offline sales in central areas. We believe our study advances the related theory and knowledge of multi-channel retailing and also contributes practically to location-dependent multi-channel strategies and sales data analytics.

• Asia Marketing Journal
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.73-98
• /
• 2019

As information and communication technology continue its remarkable development, the exchange of information online becomes as prevalent and frequent as face-to-face communication in daily life. Therefore, the management and application of WOM (word of mouth) practices will become more important than ever to companies. Currently, there are various types of communication channels for online WOM, and each channel has its own unique traits. Most of the previous research studies online WOM by examining the information inside a single communication channel, but this research chooses two different communication channels and analyzes the effects of online WOM with each channel's unique characteristics. More specifically, this research focuses on the expectation that the effects of information from Twitter and blogs on product sales may differ because Twitter and blogs, two different communication channels for online WOM, have their own unique traits. Our particular aim is to perform an in-depth examination on the effects of communication channel's volume and valence on product sales, two important attributes of online WOM. Furthermore, while most of the empirical research focuses on online WOM and analyzes its effect on markets of temporary experience goods, such as movies and books, this research highlights focuses on the automobile market, a durable goods market. The results of our analysis are as follows: First, regarding blogs, a positive valence significantly and positively affects the sales of products, and this result indicates that consumers are influenced more by the emotional aspect of a product presented in a post than by the number of blog posts. Second, regarding Twitter, the volume of online WOM significantly and positively affects sales, an indication that as the number of posts increase, the sales increase. Through this research, we suggest that even those firms that sell durable goods can increase sales through the management and application of online WOM. Moreover, according to the characteristics of communication channels, the effects of online WOM on sales differ. As a practical implication of this research, we suggest that companies can and should create marketing strategies appropriate to their targeted communication channels.

• Journal of the Korean Operations Research and Management Science Society
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.81-100
• /
• 2016

Much effort has been exerted to analyze online texts and understand how empirical results can help improve sales performance. In this research, we aim to extend this stream of research by decomposing online texts based on text sources, namely, companies and consumers. To be specific, we investigate how online texts driven by companies differ from those generated by consumers, and the extent to which both types of online texts have different effects on online sales. We obtained sales data from one of the biggest game publishers and merged them with online texts provided by companies using news articles and those created by consumers in user communities. The empirical analyses yield the following findings. Word visualization and topic analyses show that firms and consumers generate different contexts. Specifically, companies spread word to promote their own events whereas consumers produce online words to share winning strategies. Moreover, online sales are influenced by consumer-generated community topics whereas firm-driven topics in news articles have little to no effect. These findings suggest that companies should focus more on online texts generated by consumers rather than spreading their own words. Moreover, online sales strategies should take advantage of specific topics that have been proven to increase online sales. In particular, these findings give startup companies and small business owners in variety of industries the advantage when they use the online channel for distribution and as a marketing platform.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.31-36
• /
• 2011

I conducted empirical analyses of what happens when an offline channel expands to an online channel and whether the pre-existing offline channel's competitive assets (e.g. brand reputation and level of service satisfaction) can be linked to online channel preference. I found that an offline channel's brand reputation and level of service satisfaction can have a direct influence on offline channel preference and a second-hand influence on online channel preference. Thus, if the competitiveness of the online channel is strong enough and its customers have a higher preference for the offline channel, they will be committed and loyal to the company. The resultant enhanced competitiveness of the offline channel will present opportunities for both present and future success. The main results are the following. First, the management of the distribution channel service quality is more important than that of the brand reputation. Customers' experiences of service and subjective evaluations are not important only as the leading factors in the long-term brand reputation management but also as influential factors in channel preference. SoThus, given that the service quality of the pre-existing channel is not the customers' main concern, a strategy of improving the level of service satisfaction aimed at present customers is more valuable than a wide brand positioning strategy aimed at general and new customers. Second, when an offline channel company establishes an internet shopping mall on an online channel, it is highly likely that the preference and subjective evaluation of the present customers will influence the online channel. This applies not only to the special case of an expansion from an offline intermediary channel to an online one, but also to an online channel acting as an expansion of the business model of a conventional manufacturing or service company: both cases are vertical integrations of marketing channels in an expansion of the distribution channel. My theory applies to a wide range of contexts. Third and finally, any business strategy can grasp the meaning of 'channel expansion. Fundamentally, it is an expansion of the sales activity channel and marketing activity. However, it is also a way of enhancing marketing and sales competitiveness through an expansion to an online or offline channel. The expansion of an offline company to an online channel could be seen not as improvement but as an innovation of the business process by which two goals are achieved with one technique. The former is expected to increase the sales of the offline company, and the latter is also expected to increase sales while also contributing to cost reduction.

• Human Ecology Research
• /
• v.59 no.4
• /
• pp.449-463
• /
• 2021

The aim of this study was to analyze the perceptions and entering status of small business online fashion retailers on portal shopping and fashion shopping malls. Case studies were conducted on a total of 10 research samples. The results were as follows: first, regarding the strategic factors of online fashion stores, 'price competitiveness' is important, especially in portal shopping and low-cost brands; 'product assortment' is important but not essential in all platforms; and 'differentiation' is important to continuously secure loyal customers in fashion shopping malls. Customer satisfaction leads to customer loyalty, and customer loyalty affects the sales conversion rate and brand growth of online sales channels. Factors that promoted sales activities in online sales channels were exposure, advertisements, SNS, events, special exhibitions, and events. Hindrance factors were low price competition, overheated competition, and the MD of sales channels. Second, the research samples used multiple online sales channels, including portal shopping malls and fashion shopping malls, in addition to their own malls. The selection factors were platform reputation and commission, branding, and customer inflow through exposure. Portal shopping malls were perceived as providing easy access, advertising/customer communication, exposure/search, price competitiveness, scalability, and intense competition, whereas fashion shopping malls were perceived as providing a brand image and concept, brand promotion, high commissions, difficult entry, and low profits. The factors for success in portal shopping malls were exposure/search, price competitiveness, and brand recognition, whereas the factors for success in fashion shopping malls were differentiation, brand, exposure/advertisement, product assortment, and MD.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.743-753
• /
• 2019

This study investigates differences in demographic characteristics, shopping orientation, perceived risk, and satisfaction after purchase among consumer types. This study classifies consumer types according to their channel transition behaviors between the online and offline channels with a focus on the steps of information research and buying decision in buying decision-making process. The four consumer groups are as follows: off-off type (offline research-offline purchase), on-on type (online research-online purchase), on-off type (online research-offline purchase) and on/off-off type (online and offline research-offline purchase), off-on type (offline research-online purchase) and on/off-on type (online and offline research-online purchase). Data were collected from adults over 20 years old who had bought clothes within one year. The questionnaire was carried out from July, 2019 using a professional internet research panel; in addition, 500 sets of useful data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, factor analysis, reliability analysis, chi-squared test, ANOVA and Duncan-test using SPSS 21.0. The findings showed significant differences among the classified consumer groups for consumer demographics, shopping orientation, perceived risk, and purchase after satisfaction. The results imply that consumers show a variety of channel transition behaviors based on demographic variables, shopping orientation, and perceived risk. Understanding and adapting to consumer purchase behaviors will allow company distribution channels to be effectively managed and eventually increase consumer satisfaction as well as company sales volume.

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.83-95
• /
• 2007

We are motivated by how offline and online firms compete. The Internet made many conventional offline firms build a dynamic online business as another sales channel using their advantages such as brand equity, an existing customer base with comprehensive purchasing data, integrated marketing, economies of scale, and longtime experience with the logistics of order fulfillment and customer service. Even though the hybrid selling using both offline and online channel seems to have advantages over a pure online retailer, all the conventional offline firms are not seen to create an online business. Many conventional offline firms began to launch online business since the Internet era, however, just being online business is not likely to guarantee success. According to Bizate.com's report whether the hybrid channel strategy is successful is still under investigation. For example, consider the classic case of Barnes and Noble versus Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble was already the largest chain of bookstores in the U,S., when Amazon.com was established in 1995, BarnesandNoble.com followed suit in 1997, After suffering losses in its initial years, Amazon finally turned profitable in 2003. In 2004, Amazon's net income was $588 million on revenues of $6.92 billion, while Barnes and Noble earned $143 million on revenues of $4.87 billion, which included BarnesandNoble.com's loss of $21 million on revenues of $420 million. While these examples serve to motivate our thinking, it does not explain when offline firms should venture online. It also does not provide an analytical framework that can generalized to other competitive online-offline situations. We attempt to do this in this paper and analyze a hybrid channel model where a conventional offline firm competes against online firms using its own direct online channels. We are particularly interested in an optimal channel strategy when a conventional offline firm sells its products through its own direct online channel to compete with other rival online firms. We consider two situations where its direct online channel and other online firms are symmetric and asymmetric in the brand effect. The analysis of this paper presents several findings. In the symmetric model where a hybrid firm's online channel is not differentiated from a pure online firm, (i) a conventional offline firm will not launch its online business. In the asymmetric model where a hybrid firm's online channel is differentiated from a pure online firm, (ii) a conventional offline firm can launch its online business if its brand effect is greater than a certain threshold. (iii) there is a positive relationship between its brand effect and online customer costs showing that a conventional offline firm needs more brand effect in order to launch online business as online customer costs decrease. (iv) there is a negative relationship between its brand effect and the number of customers with access to the Internet showing that a conventional offline firm tends to launch its online business when customers with access to the Internet increases.

• International Area Studies Review
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.121-141
• /
• 2017

The world whitening cosmetics market is fast being taken in 'complex functional cosmetics' including complex function. And highly functional cosmetics market that call cosmeceutical market is growing up with highly functional cosmetics market. In addition, natural cosmetics market including whitening function is growing up in the world in complex functional cosmetics. Distribution channel of the world functional cosmetics is digital communication through beauty and digital. Global companies are adding relationship in new space between customer and brand. So worldwide change phenomenon of whitening cosmetics distribution channel will suggest importance that it should be able to communication with customer in non-traditional space. Domestic whitening cosmetics market is decreasing to reference compound annual growth rate -3.61%. While complex type market is increasing to annual growth rate 33.28%. Since 2008, domestic whitening cosmetics market was changed in distribution channel of center of traditional door-to-door sales. Especially, online channel is about 1/6 level of offline, but since 2014, year-on-year increase rate of online showed 27.1%. In the future, it is anticipated that ratio of online sales is above offline. Whitening cosmetics distribution is being changed, and online channel is growing up, so domestic companies will need tragedy targeting new whitening cosmetics distribution channel and traditional offline channel at the same time. If new company go into whitening cosmetics market, the new company will have to consider natural cosmetics in complex functional cosmetics than whitening cosmetics market. To secure domestic competitiveness whitening cosmetics market, securing differentiation of brand or pursuing change of distribution channel, and we need to seek a method that company and customer can forge communication in new space.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.224-239
• /
• 2022

Despite an impressive growth of online sales, the bricks-and-mortar bandwagon still remain high-profile in the realm of consumer channel switching behavior. Different from the existing research exploring the consumer switching behavior from the offline to the online retailer, this study is an effort to investigate why and when do consumers switch from the online to the offline channel by applying the push-pull-mooring framework. Thus, structural equation modeling and SPSS were used to test the established hypotheses. The results, as expected, show that both push factors (i.e., perceived risk and dissatisfaction) and pull factors (alternative attractiveness and perceived ownership) are positively related to a consumer's intention to switch from the online to the offline channel. Moreover, all of expected interactions between push factors and mooring factors (i.e., switching costs, variety seeking, and subjective norms), and between pull factors and mooring factors are supported, except for the interactions between push factors and switching costs as well as between pull factors and subjective norms. Finally, implications and limitations are discussed.