Impact on Pricing

I. INTRODUCTION

Our entire report will be focusing and analyzing various factors which will help us to understand web’s impact on pricing. Hence the key focus areas for the report are as follows:-

• Ability of the consumer to instantly and easily compare the prices offered for a product; and how it affects the pricing of consumer goods.

• The reasons that have made online auctions the jugular vein of popular e-commerce sites and the ways in which producers have adapted to and learnt from this phenomenon.

• The possibilities that group buying holds for execution of trade and commerce online for the masses, and its effects on the pricing and production landscape as a whole.

• We would also conduct a time series analysis to get a bird’s eye view of the changes in pricing, discounts on consumer goods, shopping goods and industrial goods before and after the emergence of online commerce.

• As social media has been the buzz word for advertisers and brand managers alike, it’s impact on pricing, demands focus. In this view, the report would touch upon the changes observed in pricing, discounting, and payment mechanisms in the era of Web 2.0.

• Auctions: Various types of auctions conducted online and their web hosts. Auction bidding strategies and their online adaptations would be observed.

• Group Buying: The effects of group buying on pricing, inventory stocking would be studied. We intend to study the effect of group dynamics on the buying decisions and patterns.

II. WEB’S IMPACT ON PRICING: COMPARISONS

1. Companies are inclined towards online application of differential pricing because of the relative ease of applying differential pricing to costumers without them knowing about it.

“In September 2000, Amazon.com outraged some customers when its own price discrimination