Interesting Results
Online Sales Don’t Always Replace Offline Sales
Many traditional retailers have been concerned that online sales would cannibalize their offline sales. A recent study shows that at least in some cases, they don’t. The authors developed a mathematical model for estimating the extent to which online sales affect offline sales, and applied it to data from Tower Records. That showed that, at least for Tower Records, their online activities had only a negligible effect on their offline sales. The same model can be used to determine the extent to which online sales are cannibalizing the offline sales of other retailers.