Shipping Fees Research Articles

Discount propaganda on Tiktok live features as a means of @somethincofficial in increasing sales

The development of technology has made many social media a means to channel information and communication. The media that is currently often used by the public is TikTok. Indonesia is the second largest market in the world for TikTok users in 2023 with 106.52 million active users. The type of research used by the researcher is qualitative descriptive, data collection techniques using observation and interview methods, book literature, scientific journals, and interviews with 5 adolescent informants of TikTok followers Somethinc in Cirebon City. With its proven quality, as well as the delivery of messages through promotions, Somethinc has succeeded in building brand awareness among teenagers in Cirebon City so that its products are liked and in great demand. TikTok social media as a means of attracting buying interest is because of its attractive content accompanied by influencer support that helps the process of delivering the message desired by business actors, as well as the existence of a live shopping feature that makes the audience interested in buying because of the many promos, free shipping fees and discounts obtained as well as live chat interactions that make it easier for consumers to solve their problems. TikTok social media is a strategic media as a means of promotion in attracting interest in buying Somethinc products. This is due to the attention of consumers in the form of informative content, on TikTok social media there are many attractive promos that make consumers interested in buying, and there is a message feature in TikTok social media that makes it easier for consumers to interact with business actors directly with the aim of getting solutions to obstacles.

Two-sided platform customer classification system based on network DEA: an application to an on-demand freight platform

Two-sided platforms include two parts of users, customers and suppliers, which are the key strategic resources in two-sided platforms. Through Customer Intelligence Classification (CIC) management provided in this study, a platform can distinguish different values of customers to allocate resources efficiently and maximise customer resource value and enterprise investment returns. Meanwhile platform can also distinguish collusive drivers through CIC. Network Data Envelopment Analysis (NDEA) is applied in this research to open the black box of a two-sided platform operation system by dividing it into two sub-processes: Marketing and Service (MS) sub-process and Value-Creating (VC) sub-process. Four categories of customers are classified through performance evaluated by NDEA from data of an on-demand freight platform Z from March to August in 2018. In addition, six influencing factors are discovered through Panel Regression Model. The main conclusions are: (1) Customer with high marketing service valuation and low value-creating valuation, needs proper operation methods to promote their order quality. (2) Customer with low marketing service valuation and high value-creating valuation, needs to take attention to collusion between customers and driver. (3) Shipping fee, client number, driver number and coupons per order should become customers’ Key Performance Indicators to evaluate their potential.

(317) Significant Cost Savings for Erectile Dysfunction Medications are Available Using Discount Online Pharmacies Compared to Medicare

Abstract Introduction The Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (CPD) is an online retailer launched in January 2022 that sells generic prescription medications directly to consumers at cost of ingredients and manufacturing plus a fixed 15% margin in addition to a small pharmacy dispensing fee and shipping fee. GoodRx is an online tool which offers coupons redeemable at pharmacies for discounts on prescription medications. The combination of these two tools offers physicians a way to provide prescription medications to patients at lower costs, which may lead to improved medication adherence and lower medication expenditures nationally. Objective To compare the cost of various erectile dysfunction medications when purchased through retail pharmacies, reimbursed through Medicare, or obtained utilizing CPD and GoodRx. Methods A review of publicly available data from CPD and GoodRx was performed to obtain average retail and discounted prices for generic sildenafil, tadalafil, and vardenafil. GoodRx prices were obtained using prices from Costco, CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart pharmacies in the most from populous zip code from each of the 3 most populous U.S. states: California, New York, and Texas. Prices were adjusted to account for dosage and prescribed quantity to estimate an average cost per dosage unit ($/adu). The Medicare Part D Drug Spending and Utilization data from 2021 were used to report the average spending per dosage unit and total expenditure for each of the listed medications. These data were compared to create an estimate of average national savings after use of CPD or GoodRx. Results Average spending per dosage unit for sildenafil, tadalafil, and vardenafil was less when GoodRx or CPD were used (0.28 $/adu, 0.31 $/adu, and 6.17 $/adu respectively), compared to Medicare pricing (2.14 $/adu, 8.08 $/adu, and 27.84 $/adu respectively) or retail pricing (0.52 $/adu, 2.82 $/adu, and 8.35 $/adu respectively). When adjusted for total dosage units, use of CPD over Medicare pricing for the three medications would result in a combined annual national saving of $149M. Use of either CPD or GoodRx compared to retail pricing would similarly result in a combined annual nation saving of $40M. Conclusions The utilization of CPD and GoodRx in the prescription of common erectile dysfunction medications may lead to significant reductions in pricing compared to retail and Medicare estimates. Knowledge of these prescription tools may lead to significant reductions in national expenditures on medications and decreased cost burden for patients seeking treatment. Disclosure Any of the authors act as a consultant, employee or shareholder of an industry for: Advisory board and speaker for Coloplast; consultant for Cynosure; advisory board and speaker for Halozyme; intellectual property with Masimo; advisory board for Promescent; consultant for Sprout; advisory board for Xialla.

(164) Potential Savings with Use of Cost Plus Pharmacy for Medical Treatment of Erectile Dysfunction

Abstract Introduction With its stated goal “to end ridiculous drug prices,” the Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC) launched in January 2022 with over 100 generic prescription drugs available to be mailed directly to patients without the involvement of health insurance. To promote drug cost transparency, all drugs are priced at the cost to manufacture the drug with a 15% administrative markup, a $3 pharmacist fee, and a $5 shipping fee. Prior research has focused on the theoretical savings MCCPDC could offer if Medicare purchased drugs at MCCPDC prices with studies reporting a potential $3.3 billion in savings for Medicare. Prescription drug spending is continuing to rise in the United States and providers are increasingly considering patient’s out-of-pocket costs. MCCPDC touts a transparent, consistent pricing model, but it is unclear if this pricing model will actually translate to cost savings for patients. Objective We sought to analyze if Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC) can offer savings directly to patients compared with other mail-order pharmacies, local pharmacies (based on zip code of our urology clinic) and with patients using health insurance to fill prescriptions for their sildenafil, vardenafil and tadalafil. Methods Out of the approximately 100 generic drugs available on MCCPDC website, we analyzed the 3 drugs that are prescribed to treat erectile dysfunction. We analyzed drug prices of 30 and 90-day prescriptions at the same dose of each medication. Using Good Rx prescription drug search engine, we compared the drug prices of the cheapest mail order and local in person pharmacies near our zip code. We also included prices for the recently started telemedicine company Roman. To compare if MCCPDC could offer savings to patients using health insurance to fill their prescriptions, we extracted the out-of-pocket drug costs for patients from the 2020 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS; a national survey that compiles data from both the pharmacy and the survey respondent to determine the exact cost of each prescription filled during that year) and the 2020 Medicare Part D spending data. Medicare Part D spending data was used to estimate the out-of-pocket cost for each medication, which is approximately a 25% copayment for Medicare prescriptions. Results MCCPDC offered the lowest direct-to-consumer price on sildenafil and tadalafil 90-day prescriptions (Table 1). MCCPDC saved patients approximately $10 per sildenafil and tadalafil prescription compared with the next cheapest option. We found additional, although smaller, savings at 30-day prescriptions for sildenafil and tadalafil. MCCPDC was not the cheapest option for vardenafil. Compared with Roman, MCCPDC offered cheaper prescriptions for sildenafil and tadalafil by over $300 and $900, respectively. Conclusions MCCPDC can offer significant cost savings to patients, especially considering the high number of sildenafil and tadalafil prescriptions each year. The transparency and consistency in pricing with MCCPDC can be utilized by providers when counseling patients on medical therapy options for erectile dysfunction. Disclosure No.

Potential out-of-pocket savings from hematology/oncology drugs for commercially insured patients via Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company.

22 Background: Prescription drug out-of-pocket (OOP) costs remain a major source of financial toxicity in hematology/oncology (heme/onc). Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company (MCCPDC) sells generic drugs directly to patients, bypassing insurance. The purchase cost is equal to drug cost (manufacturing cost, 15% markup, $3 pharmacy fee) and $5 shipping fee. Research shows MCCPDC provides potential savings for Medicare beneficiaries, but its benefit for the commercially insured remains unknown. We assess OOP savings if the eight MCCPDC drugs with heme/onc indications were purchased directly from MCCPDC instead of commercial insurance. Methods: MCCPDC purchase costs were matched with equivalent drugs claims in IBM Marketscan (2021) based on name, strength, formulation, and amount dispensed, using claims with the most frequent days’ supply. Potential OOP savings were calculated by subtracting insurance claim OOP costs (copay + coinsurance + deductible) from MCCPDC purchase cost. Outcomes included % claims with cost savings and amount saved. Savings were calculated for brand-name drugs for which a MCCPDC generic may often be appropriately substituted. Results: Of 145,403 claims, 6.8-24.5% of generic antineoplastics approved post-1990 in MCCPDC and 26% of deferasirox claims would have OOP savings if purchased through MCCPDC, with median savings $63-$561 (Table). 14.8% of brand-name 2nd generation antiandrogen claims would save switching to abiraterone, with median (IQR) saving of $1045 (345, 2010). 43.2% of brand-name 1st/2nd generation BCR/ABL tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) claims would save switching to imatinib, with median (IQR) saving of $116 (31, 1286). The share of newer generic antineoplastic claims with savings varied by insurance: high deductible health plan (HDHP) (28.1%), health maintenance organization (HMO) (23.5%), and preferred provider organization (PPO) (13.2%) (p<0.001). Conclusions: Some patients can save hundreds or thousands of dollars per fill by purchasing heme/onc drugs through MCCPDC instead of commercial insurance, with greater savings for HDHP/HMO and from brand-name antineoplastics to appropriately substitutable generics. MCCPDC is a new avenue to decrease financial toxicity. [Table: see text]

Optimal return shipping insurance policy with consumers' anticipated regret

We study return shipping insurance (RSI) policies prevalent on platforms such as JD.com and Taobao.com. Retailers on those platforms can purchase and provide RSI for consumers (RRSI) or offer an option for consumers to buy RSI themselves (CRSI). With either RSI, consumers will be partially compensated by an insurer for their shipping fees associated with product returns. As the consumers' uncertainty about product fit is realized only after purchase, their decisions whether to purchase CRSI may lead to postpurchase regret. Considering these anticipated regret behaviors, we investigate the optimal RSI policy for a monopolistic online retailer and an insurer. We show that the retailer offers RRSI only if the retailer's return handling cost is relatively low and consumers' return shipping cost is in an intermediate range; otherwise, the consumers' strong propensity for uninsured regret may stimulate them to purchase CRSI. Under the optimal RRSI policy, the retailer always charges a higher product price than under no RSI, and surprisingly the consumer demand could expand. In contrast, under the optimal CRSI policy, the retailer always sets a lower product price, but resulting in consumer demand shrinkage. Counterintuitively, CRSI may become a “win‐win‐win” policy for the retailer, insurer, and consumers.

PERCEPTUAL ANALYSIS OF ETHICAL FACEBOOK MARKETING

The primarily motive is to investigate the Ethical concern of customers towards the Facebook Marketing. The various past studies explored the benefits of Online Marketing and Facebook is a very popular Social platform among it and in the transforming world so far. Most of the research work was done on describing the security concerns as well as perception of customer towards S-commerce but yet not discovered the ethical values towards Facebook Marketing and what customers actually feel about Facebook Marketing. Due to time constraints, snowball sampling was used to collect the data from the respondents and only 250 respondents were selected for the study, those who were frequently accessing the Facebook and other social platforms for shopping purposes. Prior to actual research, pilot survey was conducted to ensure that all the questions were asked in questionnaire were understandable as well as appropriate for this study. In addition, Cronbach’s Alpha techniques were used to check whether all statements have positively correlated to each other. Therefore, reliability of the statements extracted which allowed us to proceed further for analysis of the data. In this study, three factors were extracted through factor analysis, from the responses of respondents. Based on the variables included in each factor, we labeled for factors as quality services, mechanisms of trust, adoption of Facebook Marketing, prosperity of shopping, flexibility behavior and user friendly. The findings of the study highlighted the importance of quality services offered by the E-Marketers. The websites marketers must be user-friendly so that consumers feel flexible or free to make purchases at low prices. The marketers should be focused on the youth, because youth generation is very much prosperous regarding online shopping, because Facebook Marketing provides varieties of products, lower shipping fee, easily accessibility of products and provide products to their home. There are many laws and acts which increases trust among customers regarding the Facebook Marketing. The privacy of customers is also a concern, their personal information would not be shared with others or third party and proper feedback is provided to the customers regularly.

Designing shipping policies with top‐up options to qualify for free delivery

Motivated by the booming online grocery market and the extensive use of contingent free‐shipping (CFS) policies in the e‐grocery industry, we investigate the optimal CFS and pricing decisions for online grocers. Under a CFS policy, consumers enjoy free shipping for orders exceeding a certain threshold value; otherwise, they are charged a flat fee for orders below this threshold. We adopt a utility‐based model to capture consumers' behavior of purchasing additional items to qualify for free shipping under a CFS policy and analyze its impact on policy structure and consumer surplus. We characterize the e‐grocer's optimal pricing and CFS policy and find that consumer heterogeneity and demand distribution lead to different forms of the optimal shipping policy. When consumer heterogeneity is large enough, the optimal policy induces some consumers to top up and may allow some others to ship for free. In this case, the e‐grocer can charge a high‐profit margin. Otherwise, a top‐up option is unnecessary, and a flat‐rate shipping fee policy is optimal. Moreover, while the optimal policy never induces all consumers to top up when they are rational, it is possible to do so when consumers associate some psychological disutility with the shipping fee. Surprisingly, the total consumer surplus under the optimal policy may increase in the latter case. We further model a Stackelberg game between an e‐grocer and an offline channel and find that the difference between the e‐grocer's internal shipping cost and consumers' inconvenience cost of shopping offline is a main driver for market segmentation. Lastly, we show that a subscription‐based free‐shipping program, in addition to the jointly optimized CFS and pricing policy, cannot improve profits when consumers' order size and frequency are independent. Our findings help online grocers make operational and marketing decisions under the impact of consumers' top‐up behavior.

Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of ultrasound guided injection of carbon nanoparticles as a preoperative localizing tool of non-palpable breast cancer and sentinel lymph nodes detection

Objective This study aimed to measure the efficacy of using carbon nanoparticles in the preoperative localization of early breast cancer (BC) cases as well as in the detection of sentinel lymph nodes in Egypt. In addition, the purpose of the study was to determine whether the efficacy of carbon nanoparticles outweighs their high price and additional shipping fees. Material and methods The current pilot study enrolled 16 early BC patients, particularly those eligible for breast-conserving surgery. All patients underwent standardized injection techniques. The operating surgeons provided comprehensive intraoperative findings and postoperative histopathological reports of the excised tissues. Results After neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC), downstaging of the study subjects was achieved until reaching the TNM stage of T1N1M0 and T1N0M0 in 2 cases (12.5%) and 14 cases (87.5%), respectively. Ultrasound-guided injection of carbon nanoparticles was done, followed by surgical excision on the same day or the day after injection. Eleven patients had positive mass lesions preoperatively, with a mean tumoral size of less than 1 cm in maximum dimension. Moreover, 6 out of the 11 patients showed positive black staining intraoperatively with an accuracy of 68.75%. Postoperative histopathological examination (the gold standard) of axillary specimens revealed that 3 out of 16 of the study population have positive tumor-infiltrated lymph nodes. However, only 2 of these cases demonstrated intra-operative black staining, with the black dye’s positive and negative predictive values of staining being 100% and 92.2%, respectively. Conclusions Preoperative carbon nanoparticle suspension injection is a safe and effective method for adequate tumoral localization in BC patients. Nevertheless, this pilot study did not provide strong evidence for the adequacy of sentinel lymph node detection due to the small sample size, high cost, and extra shipping fees of the carbon nanoparticles.

The Effect of Shopping Orientation, Product Attributes, and Electronic Word of Mouth (E-WOM) on online Purchase Intent in The Marketplace

Each individual has a different shopping orientation which is shown through opinions, desires, and individual activities when shopping. Currently, individual understanding of shopping orientation is the ease of shopping. The convenience of this shopping can be obtained through online shopping marketplaces. Some of the attributes that exist in the online marketplace as a shopping place used by consumers are having a variety of choices in payment methods, ease of use, data security factors are also important including security in transactions, product guarantees, speed of delivery and related shipping fee promos offered, this is often a consideration for consumers to buy a product on an online marketplace. Online marketplace providers such as Shopee, Tokopedia, Bukalapak, and others each provide comment column features such as product reviews and product discussions to assist customers in making purchases. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of shopping orientation, product attributes and electronic word of mouth partially on online purchase intentions in marketplaces using multiple linear regression analysis. The research population was Indonesian people who had purchased online marketplaces with a sample of 270 respondents using the purposive sampling method, and then processed with the help of SPSS 25 statistical software. The results showed that from multiple linear regression analysis and testing the shopping orientation hypothesis, product attributes and electronic word of mouth positively and significantly influences purchase intention.

Decision-Making of Cross-Border E-Commerce Platform Supply Chains Considering Information Sharing and Free Shipping

For cross-border e-commerce companies with high shipping costs, the existing retailer and the new entrant retailer on the platform are usually concerned with information sharing and free shipping due to the uncertainty of market demand. For this, by establishing a Stackelberg game model between two competing retailers, we analyze the strategy of retailers and explore the business strategies of the cross-border e-commerce platform. The study shows that regarding information-sharing strategies, retailer A’s willingness to share information is positively related to initial market potential and negatively related to market competition intensity. Moreover, retailer B is willing to spend higher information costs to purchase information when the necessity of the product is more elevated. As for a free shipping strategy, if the existing retailer offers free shipping, the new entrant retailer should also offer free shipping service to consumers when the initial market potential is larger. Conversely, when the initial market potential is smaller, the retailer’s willingness to offer free shipping decreases when the intensity of competition in the market increases. When the market tends to be perfectly competitive, the new entrant retailer will not choose a free shipping strategy, and the platform is most profitable when information sharing and free shipping occur simultaneously. However, when the carrier charges a higher shipping fee to customers, the existing retailer is more profitable when the new entrant does not offer free shipping. Therefore, in order to achieve a win-win situation for all parties, the platform needs to develop appropriate operational strategies to influence the decisions of retailers and carriers. Some numerical experiments are made to test the validity of the model and the effect of the parameters involved in the model.

Separation or integration: The game between retailers with online and offline channels

A growing number of retailers, especially those with both online and offline channels, have developed “buy online and pick up in store” (BOPS) channels that offer a seamless shopping experience as a means to compete for consumers. Nevertheless, few studies have examined the impact of shipping fees borne by consumers in online channels on the adoption of BOPS channels by competing retailers. This paper builds a game-theoretic model to analyze the price and channel strategies of two retailers, considering the difference in shipping fees between their online channels. Each retailer chooses between operating online and offline channels separately or integrating the two channels to develop a BOPS channel. We first explore the optimal prices and find that if one retailer has a significant advantage in shipping fee, this retailer sets a lower price when both retailers choose the integration strategy than when both choose the separation strategy. Moreover, we identify the conditions corresponding to different equilibriums. Specifically, when the shipping fees in online channels are low enough, retailers tend to adopt the separation strategy. Nevertheless, the prisoner's dilemma may appear when retailers adopt the integration strategy without considering the similarity in the shipping fees of their online channels. Interestingly, when the unit cost of operating a BOPS channel is high enough, as the unit cost of operating a BOPS channel increases, so does the profit of the sole retailer adopting an integration strategy. Our results provide competing retailers with managerial insights on when implementing BOPS channels is beneficial to them.

Online Retailer’s Contingent Free-Shipping Decisions under Large-Scale Promotions Considering Delayed Delivery

Large-scale promotions lead to a huge number of orders, and the quantity of deliveries grows sharply, which puts considerable strain on cities’ logistics and imposes high related shipping costs. To alleviate these consequences, in this paper we provide a new contingent free shipping policy with delayed delivery (DD-CFS) for an online retailer during large-scale promotions and study its CFS threshold decisions, considering consumers’ different sensitivities to delivery time delays.We start by analyzing a consumer’s purchasing decision based on consumer utility theory. Next, we establish a mathematical model to help the online retailer find the optimal CFS threshold to maximize its expected profit. Finally, we analyze the benefit of delayed delivery to the online retailer and conduct a sensitivity analysis to examine the impacts of important parameters on the online retailer’s CFS threshold decisions, profit, and the value of the delayed delivery. We find that the DD-CFS policy can lead to more profits during the large-scale promotions period compared with the traditional CFS policy. As the delayed delivery time and the consumer’s negative attitude towards delayed delivery time increase, the online retailer should reduce the low CFS threshold value. On the other hand, as the shipping fee and the consumer’s negative attitude towards the shipping fee increase, the online retailer should raise the high and low CFS threshold values.

A Study of Cooperation Between Suppliers and E-Commerce Platforms Based on Biform Game

This article considers e-commerce platforms with and without promotion, builds biform game models consisting of one and two supplier platforms, and calculates the profit distribution of the three parties using the Shapley value method. The optimal strategies of the three parties are discussed, including which platform the supplier will choose to cooperate with and which logistics service strategy to choose. In addition, how platforms make their commission rates to attract suppliers and which promotion strategy to choose are also studied. The results show that regardless of whether the platform promotes sales or not, in the case of charging consumers for the shipping fee when the standard shipping fee of unit product is low, the supplier will choose to cooperate with the platform without self-built logistics and use the third-party logistics to deliver products. When the standard shipping fee is high, the supplier will choose to cooperate with the platform with self-built logistics. But in the case of free shipping for consumers, the conclusion is just the opposite.

Restoring the buyer–seller relationship through online return shipping: The role of return shipping method and return shipping fee

Relationships with consumers are critical to the success of online sellers. Online returns can detrimentally influence buyer–seller relationships and, thus, online sellers should carefully approach online returns to restore their relationship with consumers. Returns due to consumer satisfaction-related reasons are a significant and inevitable part of e-commerce. This article focuses on how online sellers deal with the method and the fee aspects of their return shipping policy to improve buyer–seller relationships. We also studied the effects of return shipping policies on several pivotal consumer perceptions and repurchase intentions. A two-factor (integrated return shipping vs. separated return shipping; free return shipping vs. fee return shipping), between-subject experiment was conducted. This research revealed that both using an integrated return shipping method and offering free return shipping can lead to a better buyer–seller relationship and improve other consumer responses. No interaction effect was found between the two factors.

Free shipping

ABSTRACT A recent study (Gil et. al., 2020) found that free shipping can hurt an online retailer if their optimal strategy is to charge shipping fees. But does this observation apply to Amazon? To ascertain this, I estimate the effect of free shipping on grocery sales using data from Amazon Canada. I find that freely shipped products receive more sales on average. Specifically, being eligible for free shipping is associated with an average increase of 435 in the best sellers rank of ground coffee products on amazon.ca. The increased sales are likely because Amazon’s customers are hesitant to pay shipping fees, and freely shipped products have lower prices and a higher average rating, and these product attributes drive demand.

Influence of Shipping Fees in Customer Purchase Decisions for Online Retailers Residing within the Philippines

With the recent rise of internet-based businesses within the confines of the Philippines, people started to pay closer attention to shipping costs and other completion concerns, which are variables that influence a consumer's perception prior to purchasing. This study aims to look at how shipping fees influence customer satisfaction, which in turn influences their online buying selections. To fulfill this purpose, a quantitative research study was used to monitor the purchasing decisions that were made by male and female consumers between the ages of 20 and 29 in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, with a sample size of 385 respondents. Our findings indicated that online buyers definitely view shipping fees as a partitioned component of e-commerce. Concluding that the amount of shipping fee prior to the consumers’ purchase definitely contributes to the fulfillment of deliberate satisfaction as well as elicits pure intentions in purchasing online. Ultimately, online buyers in the Philippines are fairly neutral about whether the amount of shipping fee completely affects the customer's online evaluation and choices.

Development of a Partial Shipping Fees Pricing Model to Influence Consumers’ Purchase Intention under the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the rapid development of the digital economy. Previous studies have indicated that shipping fees are essential in delivery strategies and significantly impact order generation rates. According to market research, 68% of consumers would increase their orders to reach the minimum threshold for free delivery. However, previous studies have focused on the problem of setting free shipping thresholds, so the existing model of the e-commerce platform only allows consumers to choose whether to pay the total shipping fees or conditional free delivery with a free shipping threshold. A lack of literature concerns the partial pay for shipping fees before reaching the free shipping threshold. Therefore, this study proposes a new pricing model for shipping strategy that allows consumers to pay partial shipping fees. This model can increase the flexibility of consumer choice, thus increasing consumers’ willingness to purchase, which in turn increases the revenue of the e-commerce platform. The model was validated for 9-month on the e-commerce platform of a Smart-Integration company. The results showed that after introducing the new pricing model, the e-commerce platform’s sales grew by about 9%. This proposed model’s theoretical extension and empirical results can remedy the research gap in the extant literature.

The Determinant of Positive eWom Intention: Perspective Social Media Users

The current technology, whose acceleration rate is high-speed, cannot be denied. You can see that all the tools are getting more advanced, and anything is quicker and easier. Especially now, everyone can do anything via smartphones, from reading newspapers to paying bills to shop online. Consumers need to open a smartphone, select the desired item, make payments and wait for the goods to arrive in front of their house (Sazali & Rozi, 2020). The presence of smartphones and online shopping makes communication between consumers and a particular company or brand easier (Parvin et al., 2020). Another more straightforward thing is that some sellers allow cash on a delivery payment system or goods pay when they arrive home. The following reason why online shopping is more popular now is that the price is lower, there is no need to come directly to the store, the area is not a barrier for consumers, it can access 24 hours, and there is even a free shipping fee (Muljono et al., 2018). The many conveniences that can obtain in shopping online make Indonesians more consumptive. But here's a positive that marketers should quickly grasp. Given the substantial population of Indonesia, and also have the characteristics of each individual. The diverse characteristics of the Indonesian population and the needs and desires of consumers for the products that consumers will buy are different. For example, in terms of sports goods (Nike, Adidas, and Reebok), fast fashion (Zara, H&M, Uniqlo), and also smartphones (Apple, Samsung, and Huawei). The shift in online behavior currently happening in Indonesia is a new opportunity (Nurjanah et al., 2019). The number of these factors is a challenge for marketers to increase sales and reach the target market. In the past, social media was created only as a means of entertainment for its users. Still, now social media is a source of consumer information, and the evolution of social media use is pervasive in the business world (Yuan et al., 2021). Keywords: Brand trust, online brand community trust, brand attachment, repurchase intention, positive eWOM intention

Pricing strategy for own shipping service of E-commerce platform using Two-sided market theory

• Examining how the cross-network effect influences the price decision and profit of a two-sided market platform. • Developing a two-sided market pricing model to consider the ancillary services such as shipping service as well as intermediation services. • Suggesting how to allocate the e-commerce platform’s shipping fees and usage fees for maximizing profits based on the two-sided market theory. • Building up two-stage price allocation model considering cross-group externality to explain the activities of e-commerce platform operator, buyer and seller. • Providing implications for pricing strategies for the platform to apply, according to the degree of buyers’ sensitivity on the shipping fees and usage fees. • Providing influence of pricing strategies on the individual usage fees paid by sellers and buyers. Recently, many e-commerce platforms are trying to provide their own shipping services. In this context, this study suggests how to allocate the platform’s usage fees and shipping fees for maximizing profits based on the two-sided market theory. Our research assumes a monopolistic e-commerce market and presents sellers' and buyers’ demand of the platform as reduced-form equations considering cross-group externalities. Then, we divide a price allocation model into two stages using these demand functions. First, we determine the usage fees of each group that maximize the platform profits when total usage fees and shipping fees are constant. Second, we decide how to allocate total usage fees and shipping fees when the total price level (total usage fees + shipping fees) is constant. As a result, this study proposes that the platform can apply two different pricing strategies according to the degree to which buyers are sensitive to usage fees and shipping fees and also shows how these pricing strategies influence the individual usage fees paid by each group.