Dominant Retailers and Their Impact on Marketing Channels
Forthcoming in The Handbook of the Economics of Retail and Distribution, edited by Emek Basker
43 Pages Posted: 26 Apr 2015 Last revised: 12 Apr 2016
Date Written: February 19, 2015
Abstract
This chapter explores the implications of dominant retailers for marketing channels – the system through which manufacturers distribute their products to consumers. The emergence of a few dominant retailers has altered the way in which members of the marketing channel make decisions. The chapter first presents an economic framework to explore the source of retail dominance. It then explores how several key decisions (e.g., product quality and assortment, prices, market data collaboration, advertising) taken within the marketing channel are affected by the dominance of certain retailers. Antitrust implications are also assessed.
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