'Watch and Buy' and its impact on online retailers and manufacturer: A Stackelberg and Nash game analysis

Abstract

'Watch and Buy' or live stream (LS) selling is a novel selling method where an influencer will showcase the product through an LS channel or social media; the consumer can interact with the influencer and buy the product online. Our study, for the first time, analyses the pricing decisions of an LS channel when they competes with the traditional online retailer (OR). We also analysed the impact of LS on OR and the product manufacturer (PM). Later, we examined the effect of conversion rate and revenue sharing contract on the supply chain partners' profit. This study's findings can act as a starting point for the analytical studies in LS selling and can aid the management practitioners of LS, OR and PM to optimise their profit. © 2023 IEEE.