Online-to-offline (O2O) platforms such as Groupon and ClassPass match excess offline capacity with online demand but are struggling for profitability in practice. We analytically study two commonly observed O2O pricing approaches, per-use pricing and subscription pricing. We examine how each...

Platform businesses are typically resource-intensive and must scale up their business quickly in the early stage to compete successfully against fast-emerging rivals. We study a critical question faced by such firms in the novel context of multi-category two-sided platforms: how to optimally...