An Explorative Study on Sales Distribution in M-commerce

Abstract

Despite the proliferation of studies on the sales distribution in e-commerce, little research has been conducted on the sales distribution in the m-commerce channel. This study empirically examines the sales distribution of various product categories in the mobile channel, using the large transaction data from a leading e-marketplace in Korea. Overall, transactions in the mobile channel are more concentrated to head products compared to the PC channel sales, but the pattern is inconsistent across product categories. Transactions in product categories of high average price (e.g., computers) and low purchase frequency rate (e.g., health care products) are less concentrated to head products in the mobile channel than the PC channel. The revenue distribution, however, shows the opposite. Head products generate relatively less revenue in the mobile channel than the PC channel. We provide explanations why the mixing results appear across product categories and between the distribution types.