Adding Bricks to Clicks: The Contingencies Driving Cannibalization and Complementarity in Multichannel Retailing

Jill Avery (), Thomas Steenburgh, John A. Deighton () and Mary Caravella ()
Additional contact information
Jill Avery: Simmons School of Management
John A. Deighton: Harvard Business School, Marketing Unit
Mary Caravella: University of Connecticut, School of Business

No 07-043, Harvard Business School Working Papers from Harvard Business School

Abstract: This paper empirically explores the contingencies that drive cannibalizing and complementary effects across channels to provide sales forecasting, promotion planning, and customer relationship management guidance to multichannel managers. We investigate three contingencies in a sales analysis of a leading U.S. retailer who adds a new retail store channel to existing catalog and online channels. We show that the emergence and strength of cannibalizing and complementary effects varies over time, across type of channel, and by type of customer, and provide insight into when and where managers can expect these effects to dominate and how to counter cannibalization and promote complementarity across channels. We find that opening retail stores cannibalizes sales in the catalog and online channels in the short term, but produces complementary effects in both channels in the long term; cannibalization is magnified in the catalog channel, while complementarity is magnified in the online channel. Customer analysis suggests that opening retail stores paves the way for higher rates of customer acquisition and higher rates of repeat purchasing among existing customers in the direct channels in the long term.

Keywords: Multichannel Retailing; Channels of Distribution; Direct Marketing; E-commerce; Channel Management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 37 pages
Date: 2007-10, Revised 2009-02
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hbs:wpaper:07-043

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