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...

This paper undertakes two related tasks to augment current understanding regarding vendor-owned inventory management (VOIM) arrangements implemented in the retail industry. The first task formally juxtaposes three prevalent forms of VOIM arrangements (i.e., Consignment, Pay-On-Scan, and...

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...

Unlike traditional retailers, which use inventory speculation for all their merchandise, Internet book retailers selectively use inventory postponement for specific merchandise items to lower their inventory costs. We develop and test hypotheses that describe merchandise determinants of...

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...