Title

Selling to a Market of One: Price Discrimination in E-retailing

Authors

Ranjan Karri, Bryant UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Comments

Request a copy of the paper from the author: Ranjan Karri

Keywords

011-006

Abstract

Would e-retailing lower prices? Preliminary empirical studies report mixed results. Drawing from theoretical perspectives on organizational coordination, the first of the two primary objectives of this research is to reconcile expectations (lower prices) with inconclusive empirical evidence (higher prices and lower prices in some instances) to frame the Internet pricing problem. The second objective of this research is to provide an outline for managers to devise pricing strategies for selling merchandise over the Internet. The potential of e-retailing lies in the capability of Internet technology to make information less costly for both customers and retailers. E-retailers have greater access to consumer related information, providing them significant opportunities for customizing prices to infinitesimal customer segments. This research presents pricing models from a price discrimination perspective in the Internet context.