Business Commons^™

Showrooming Vs. Competing: How Does Brand Selection Matter?, Qian Tang, Mei Lin

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

In this study, we empirically examine the effect of local shoe store openings on the sales of a competing, major online shoe retailer. Both showrooming and competing effects can play a role: Under the showrooming effect, the local store opening can lead to more online sales for the online retailer, whereas the competing effect created by the local store opening can substitute away the demand for the online retailer. We examine when one effect dominates the other by classifying local stores into single- and mixed-brand stores. We find that the showrooming effect is dominant for a single-brand store opening, and …