电子商务零售业的展望外文翻译.docx
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电子商务零售业的展望外文翻译.docx
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电子商务零售业的展望外文翻译
外文翻译
TheEmergingLandscapeforRetailE-Commerce
MaterialSource:
TheJournalofeconomicperspectives Author:
YannisBakos
sternschoolofbusiness
newyorkuniversity
Onlingretailsalesofgoodsandservicesareprojectedtogrowfrom$45billionin2000,or1.5%oftotalretailsales,to$155billionin2003,andto$269billionin2005,or7.8%oftotalretailsalesprojectedforthatyear.inadditiontothissubstantialgrowthinonlinesales,consumersincreasinglyrelyoninformationcollectedonlinetoresearchalotofpurchasesthatareconcludedovertraditional"bricksandmortar"channels,especiallyforhighvaluedurablegoods.sushaselectronicsandautomobiles.sushpurchasesinfluencedbytheinternetareestimatedtogrowform$13billionin2000to$146billionin2003and$378billionin2005,or10.8%ofprojectedretailsales.Thiswouldbringthetotalretailsalesaffectedbye-commercein2005to$647billion,or18.5%oftotalretailsales.
Retaile-commerceisevolvingtoencompassawidevarietyofgoodsandservices.Leisuretravelwillbetheleadingcategoryin2000with27.2%ofonlinesales,followedbybooks,music,videosandsoftware(14.9%),computersandeleputers(13.6%)andapparel(11.3%).By2005,consumables(food,beverages,supplies,healthandbeautyaids,petsupplies,etc)areprojectedtoamountto18%ofonlineretailsales,followedbyapparel(16%),computersandelectronics(12.4%),automobiles(12.2%)andleisuretravel(12.1%),whiletheshareofbooks,music,videosandsoftwarewillfallto9.6%.
Giventhegrowingrolethatthee-commercewillpalyinretailmarkets,thispaperfocusesonhowtheInternetisaffectingthesemarkets,andhowtheresulting
“digitalmarkets”comparetoconventionalmarketsintermsofsearchcosts,patternsofcompetition,mechanismsforpricediscovery,andtypesofintermediation.
ReducingSearchCostsForBuyersandSellers
Buyersfacesearchcostsinobtainingandprocessinginformationaboutthepricesandproductfeaturesofsellerofferings.Thesecostsincludetheopportunitycostoftimespentsearching,aswellasassociatedexpendituressuchasdriving,telephonecalls,computerfeesandmagazinesubscriptions.Similarly,sellersfacesearchcostsinidentifyingqualifiedbuyersfortheirproducts,suchasmarketresearch,advertising,andsalescalls.
SeveralInternet-basedtechnologieslowerbuyersearchcosts.Manysiteshelpbuyersidentifyappropriateselleroffering:
forexample,searchengineslikeAltaVista,Yahoo!
OrG;businessdirectoriesliketheoneprovidedbyYahoo!
;orspecializedproductandpricecomparisonagentsforspecificmarkets,suchasPricewatchandComputerESPforcomputersandcomponents,ExpediaandTravelocityforairlineticketsandothertravelproducts,andYahoo!
Shoppingforelectronics,andDealtimeforbooksandmusic.On-lineagentsliketheoneprovidedbyR-U-Smonitorconsumerbehaviorandhelpbuyersidentifythemostdesirablepricesandproductofferingswithoutrequiringthemtotakespecificaction.Internettechnologycanalsolowerthecosttobuyersofacquiringinformationaboutthereputationsofmarketparticipants.Suchreputationsmaybeprovidedaspartofthemarketplace(forexample,onEbay),orthroughspecializedintermediaries,suchasBizrate,whichratesretailersonspecificattributes(service,
productquality,deliverypromptnessetc)bysurveyingconsumersthatrecentlypurchasedproductsfromtheseretailers.
TheInternetlowerssellersearchcostsaswell,byallowingsellerstocommunicateproductinformationcosteffectivelytopotentialbuyers,andbyofferingsellersnewwaystoreachbuyersthroughtargetedadvertisingandone-on-onemarketing.
Byreducingsearchcostsonbothsidesofthemarket,itappearslikelythatbuyerswillbeabletoconsidermoreproductofferingsandwillidentifyandpurchaseproductsthatbettermatchtheirneeds,witharesultingincreaseineconomicefficiency.Butthereductioninsearchcostscombinedwithnewcapabilitiesofinformationtechnologycansetoffmorecomplexmarketdynamics,too.
CompetitioninDigitalMarkets
Itmayseemclearthatlowersearchandinformationcostsshouldpushmarketstowardagreaterdegreeofpricecompetition,andthisoutcomeiscertainlyplausible,especiallyforhomogeneousgoods.Ontheotherhand,on-lineretailerscanuseInterenttechnologytoprovidedifferentiatedandcustomizedproducts,andthusavoidcompetingpurelyonprice.Iwillexplorethesepossibilitiesinturn.
TheBenefitstoBuyersofGreaterPriceCompetition
Lowersearchcostsindigitalmarketswillmakeiteasierforbuyerstofindlow-costsellers,andthuswillpromotepricecompetitionamongsellers.Thiseffectwillbemostpronouncedincommoditymarkets,whereloweringbuyers’searchcostsmayresultinintensivepricecompetitionwipingoutanyextraordinarysellerprofits.Itmayalsobesignificantinmarketswhereproductsaredifferentiated,reducingthemonopolypowerenjoyedbysellers,andleadingtolowersellerprofitswhileincreasingefficiencyandtotalwelfare(Bakos,1997).
Someonlinemarketsmayhavelowerbarrierstoentryorsmallerefficientscale,thusleadingtoalargernumberofsellersatequilibrium,andcorrespondinglylowerpricesandprofits.Inparticular,certainsmall-scalesellersmayhaveabrighterfutureinawiredworldiftheycanidentifyappropriateniches,becausetheycanmoreeasilybesearchedfordiscovered,assearchcostsonlinearelessdeterminedbygeography.
Itmaythusbeexpectedthatonlinemarketswillhavemoreintensepricecompetition,resultinginlowerprofitsaswellasthepassingtoconsumersofsavingsfromlowercoststructures.Forinstance,onlineshoppersmayexpecta20-30percentdiscountforitemsnormallypriced$30-500(Tedeschi1999).
TheAttemptsofSellerstoPracticeProductDifferentiation
Thedynamicsof“friction-free”marketsarenotattractiveforsellers.However,fewgoodsaretrulyhomogeneous.Asaresult,onlineretailerscanusetechnologytoincreaseproduct
differentiation.Thiswillleadtoanincreaseinsellerprofits,whichmaypartiallyorcompletelyoffsetthedecreasecausedbylowersearchcosts(Bakos,1997).
Asastartingpoint,onlineretailerscanincreasethenumberofproductofferingsandtheinformationprovidedabouteachproduct,becausetheyarenotconstrainedbyphysicalshelfspace.Thiswillbeparticularlytrueasmerchantsimproveonlinestorelayouts,andasconsumersacquirehighspeedInternetconnections.Theresultingincreaseinvarietyoffersthepossibilityofcustomization--thatis,theabilitytoleteachcustomerchoosethedesiredsetofproductcharacteristics.Customizationofconventionalgoodsbecomesespeciallypossiblewhenretaile-commerceiscombinedwithmodernproductiontechniquesthatallowbuilding-to-order.
Dellcomputerisfrequentlymentionedasanexampleofhowonlineorderingcanallowconsumerstocustomizetheirpurchases,resultinginamuchlargervarietyofproductofferingsthanwasavailableinthepast.ConsumersorderingaDellcomputeronlinecancustomizeseveralproductcharacteristics,suchastheprocessor,memory,capacityofharddisk,displaycards,monitor,andsoon,resultinginthousandsofpotentialproductvariations.Thisproductvarietyismadefeasiblebecausethepurchasedcomputerismanufacturedaftertheorderisplaced,thuseliminatingtheneedforDelltocarryinventoriesofallpossiblevariationsofitsproductofferings.
Information-richproductslendthemselvestocost-effectivecustomization.Forinstance,deliveringanelectronicnewspapertailoredtotheinterestsofanindividualreaderneednotbemorecostlythandeliveringthesamecopytoallsubscribers,whileofferingaccesstoamuchbroaderselectionofnewsandresourcesthanwouldbefeasibletoprintanddistributephysically.
Customizationcanbebasedonasetofpreferencesspecifieddirectlybytheconsumer,ormoresubtly,thefeaturesofthecustomizedproductmightbededucedautomatically.Technologyallowstheidentificationandtrackingofindividualconsumers,bothwithinanonlinestoreandacrossdifferentwebsites.Profilingtechnologiesallowthecreationandsharingofconsumerprofiles,thematchingofconsumeridentitieswithrelevantdemographicinformation,orcomparisonwiththeknownpreferencesofsimilarconsumers.Suchtechniquescanbeusedtodiscoverorestimatethepreferencesofspecificconsumers.
Allthesetechnologiesmakeitpossibleforonlinemerchantstoassesstheircustomerspreferenceswithsignificantlymoreaccuracythanphysicalstoresorcatalogmerchants.Forexample,productofferingscanbecustomizedandrecommendationscanbemadebasedonaconsumer’sattitudes,pastbehavioranddemographiccharacteristics,orthrough”collaborativefiltering”systemsthatofferrecommendationsbasedonthefeedbackandexperiencesofconsumerswithaprofileoflikesanddislikessimilartothetargetedconsumer.
Merchantscanalsoattempttodifferentiatethemselvesandswitchingcostsforconsumersthroughsuperioruserinterfaceswithwhichconsumersbecomefamiliar,orbyemployingsystemsthatusepastpurchasesorcustomerprofilestoidentifydesiredproductcharacteristics.Forexample,systemslikeA’sbookrecommendationengineallowbuyerstoidentifyproductsthathavetheirdesiredfeatures,withoutfocusingonthecorrespondingprice.Totheextentthatnewpurchaesprovideinformationthstwillincreasetheaccuracyoffuturerecommendations,consumersmayprefertoconcentratetheirpurchasestooneorfewonlineretailers,effectivelyfacingswitchingcostssimilartothoseinducedbyloyaltyprogramssuchasfrequentflyermiles.
Inlinewi
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