Exploring Deal of the Day: an e-commerce strategy

Purpose This paper examines differences in the discounts offered during Deal of the Day (DOD) promotion schemes by online retailers based on product category, festival season and the economic status of a country. Design/methodology/approach In study 1, the authors conducted three focus group studies and 20 in-depth personal interviews (PIs) to explore consumers' perspectives on DOD. To validate the hypotheses based on the findings of study 1 and collected 515 data points from Amazon.com (313 data points from the United States) and Amazon.in (202 data points from India) in study two. The authors used multinomial linear regression to analyze the data. Findings A significant difference in savings for buyers on the purchase of electronic product categories as compared to savings made by them on the purchase of non-electronic product categories during DOD promotional schemes. Electronic products get deeper discounts in the US during festival seasons as compared to non-festival seasons during DOD promotional schemes. In emerging economies discounts offered by e-commerce retailers during DOD offers on electronic items are lesser as compared to those offered during DOD offers made in developed economies like United States. Practical implications Managers should avoid offering the same products under DOD during the festive season and non-festive season at similar prices in emerging economies as during festivals customers expect more savings over and above the regular savings. Originality/value DOD is offered every day irrespective of the other promotions on e-commerce platforms to boost sales. This study analyses any significant difference in saving for DOD offered during special sales days in emerging and developed economies.