The Impact of the Online Channel on Retailers' Performances: An Empirical Evaluation
基于100多家上市公司数据，研究发现使用在线渠道能显著提升零售商的销售额、降低成本、优化库存并提高投资回报率，而采用时机影响不大，但实体店存在有积极作用。
ABSTRACT The use of the Internet as an additional sales channel offers traditional retailers opportunities to reach expanded markets while improving the efficiency of their operations. Although the potential benefits of the online channel are clear, there are significant variations in the scope and depth of online channel use among retailers. Drawing from data on more than 100 publicly traded companies, this study examines the impact of online‐channel use on retailers’ performance. The results suggest that the online channel provides significant improvements in sales, cost, inventory, and return on investments. In addition, we find that the timing of online‐channel adoption does not play a significant role in performance improvement, but having a local store presence does.