Anmerkungen:
Nach Informationen von SSRN wurde die ursprüngliche Fassung des Dokuments October 31, 2022 erstellt
Beschreibung:
Manufacturers increasingly are introducing online direct channels, creating conflicts with retailers that market the manufacturer's brand. Research on horizontal channel entry suggests incumbent retailers protect their sales from new competitors by increasing assortment and decreasing price. However, the manufacturer's direct channel is a vertical entry by a partner who is now also a competitor. Incumbents must consider this duality in fashioning their response. We measure the impact of a manufacturer's direct channel introduction on incumbent retailers' marketing mix and sales of the focal brand. We find retailers on average disinvest in the brand by decreasing assortment and increasing price. Retailers also lose sales. We further show that retailers' response depends on their capabilities to address the threat, with retailers with low capabilities being more likely to disinvest. This calls for manufacturers to market their online direct channel to retailers on a segmented basis