Title: The impact of digital sales channels on web sales: evidence from the USA's largest online retailers

Authors: Ravi Narayanaswamy; Richard A. Heiens

Addresses: School of Business Administration, University of South Carolina Aiken, 471 University Parkway, Aiken, SC 29801, USA ' Department of Business Administration, University of South Carolina Beaufort, One University Boulevard, Bluffton, SC 29909, USA

Abstract: The present study uses aggregate data from the USA's 100 largest online retailers to examine the effectiveness of the various e-commerce digital sales channels. These digital sales channels include direct website visits, display ads, e-mail, organic search, paid search, referrals, and social media. The focus is on examining the direct effects of each traffic channel specifically on web sales performance. Hypothesis testing is done using a log-log model with a Box-Cox transformation, and the average ticket value is used as a control variable. The findings indicate that all digital sales channels have a direct effect on web sales. However, the slope of each equation suggests some degree of differentiation between digital sales channels, with implications for determining the most efficient portfolio of digital sales channels when faced with limited resources.

Keywords: digital sales channels; web sales; e-commerce; direct website visits; display ads; e-mail; organic search; paid search; referrals; social media.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEMR.2021.116505

International Journal of Electronic Marketing and Retailing, 2021 Vol.12 No.3, pp.306 - 322

Received: 08 Sep 2019
Accepted: 28 Jan 2020
Published online: 27 Jul 2021 *

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