不同網路成熟度、產品類別與零售商類型的價格水準與價格離散之比較研究

Abstract

網路使得零售與通路市場的競爭更趨激烈，但是這是否意味著實體與電子等不同類型的零售商他們之間的價格水準與價格離散是彼此模糊不清的？也許是因為網路市場成熟度或發展程度的原因目前仍沒有廣泛地被討論，所以此篇論文就是要揭開是否是因為網路市場成熟度的關係，讓不同類型的產品或是零售商的線上市場訂價會受到影響？ 本研究分析在三個網路成熟度水準不同的國家(美國、台灣、中國)，線上型零售商(電子零售商)與混合型零售商(電子與實體混合型零售商、多管道零售商)在三種產品類別(書籍、手機、筆記型電腦)的價格差異情形。 本研究發現會有下列三個結果：(1)各國及各國的電子零售商的價格離散會因為網路市場成熟度而有差異，其中以美國最小、台灣次之、中國最大。(2)三個國家的價格水準依產品類別而變動。(3)三個國家中，電子零售商的價格水準及價格離散程度都比混合型零售商要低。這些結果解釋了網路市場的成熟度會導致較低的價格水準與價格離散，但是這些變異的情況必須依照產品類別與零售商的類型做調整。

The Internet can make markets of channels and distribution more competitive, but whether this holds for on-line price levels and price dispersion of different types of retailers are unclear, perhaps because the maturity or level of development, of Internet markets has not been widely studied. This paper explores how the maturity of an Internet market affects on-line market pricing in relation to categories of products and types of retailers. It analyzes the pricing differences between pure-play retailers (e-retailers) and hybrid retailers (click-and-mortar retailers or multichannel retailers) for three categories of products (books, cell phones, and laptops) in three countries with different levels of Internet maturity (the U.S., Taiwan, and Mainland China). The results show that (1) e-retailer price dispersion is the lowest and ranked as the U.S., Taiwan, and Mainland China, (2) price levels in the three countries vary with product categories, and (3) in all the three countries, e-retailers have lower price level and price dispersion than hybrid retailers. These findings suggest that the maturation of Internet markets may lead to lower prices and price dispersion, but with variations dependent on the categories of products and types of retailers.