Online Retailing

With exponential growth in e-commerce sales, many retailers are increasing their use of online channels and social media for marketing and customer service operations. For example, Amazon and JD have launched livestreaming channels to promote their products via live video. However, the selling formats chosen by online retailers may differ. Shedding light on ... 阅读更多

In the early days of online retailing, many online retail platforms operated as “reselling channels”—purchasing goods from manufacturers and reselling them to consumers. Over time, some platforms (notably Amazon and JD) established “agency channels” (also known as “marketplace channels”) that allowed manufacturers to sell directly to consumers. Through their ... 阅读更多

In e-commerce, consumers’ return of unwanted goods is a growing logistical problem for retailers. Research by HKUST’s Man Yu and collaborators shows how third-party insurance for the cost of product return promises to make the process more sustainable as the volume of online sales continues to increase. Products bought online are returned more often than ... 阅读更多

Return insurance is an innovative return policy recently emerging on major Chinese shopping platforms, such as Taobao.com and JD.com. It is underwritten by an insurer and can be purchased by either a retailer or a consumer. Under such insurance, the insurer partially compensates consumers for their hassle costs associated with product return. We analyze the ... 阅读更多