Are Online and Offline Prices Similar? Evidence from Large Multi-channel Retailers

S-Tier
Journal: American Economic Review
Year: 2017
Volume: 107
Issue: 1
Pages: 283-303

Score contribution per author:

8.073 = (α=2.02 / 1 authors) × 4.0x S-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Online prices are increasingly used for measurement and research applications, yet little is known about their relation to prices collected offline, where most retail transactions take place. I conduct the first large-scale comparison of prices simultaneously collected from the websites and physical stores of 56 large multi-channel retailers in 10 countries. I find that price levels are identical about 72 percent of the time. Price changes are not synchronized but have similar frequencies and average sizes. These results have implications for national statistical offices, researchers using online data, and anyone interested in the effect of the Internet on retail prices.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aecrev:v:107:y:2017:i:1:p:283-303
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25