2026年第58期(总第1202期)

演讲主题：Showing, Selling, and Returning: Investigating the Multifaceted Role of Physical Stores in Omnichannel Retail

主讲人：庄梦舟 香港大学助理教授

主持人：王梦阳 市场营销系副教授

活动时间：2026年07月20日（周一）09:30-11:30

活动地址：管院大楼119教室

主讲人简介：

庄梦舟，博士毕业于美国伊利诺伊大学香槟分校，现为香港大学经管学院助理教授。他的研究专注于在新的媒体、新情景、新的渠道模式和新的社交环境中，企业的广告、定价以及销售策略的设计与优化。他在研究中主要采用计量模型、现场实验、非参数估计、机器学习等方法分析企业或消费者层面的数据，从而提出对企业，消费者和政策制定者有价值的建议。他参与了多个与可口可乐，淘宝，苏宁，网易游戏，百度等国内外知名企业的咨询项目。现已在工商管理领域的一流期刊发表多篇文章，包括Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Information Systems Research, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science等。

活动简介：

With the proliferation of online shopping, the role of physical stores has evolved from simple sales channels to multifaceted assets in omnichannel retailing. This research investigates how physical store presence affects product sales and returns. We first develop a stylized analytical model that distinguishes two mechanisms: an uncertainty-reduction mechanism, through which physical stores help consumers resolve product-fit uncertainty, and a market-expansion mechanism, through which physical stores stimulate additional offline demand. We test these predictions using a unique data set from a leading omnichannel home appliance retailer in China, where seven store openings and three store closures generated segment-level shocks to local store density. We estimate treatment effects using a synthetic difference-in-differences design that compares treated consumer segments with reweighted donor segments from comparable cities. The results show that physical stores have asymmetric effects across channels. Greater store density reduces online return rates, whereas lower store density increases them, consistent with the uncertainty-reduction role of physical stores. In contrast, greater store density increases offline sales, return volume, and return rates, consistent with the market-expansion role of physical stores. A return-reason analysis further supports these mechanisms: online effects are concentrated in mismatch and preference-related returns, whereas offline effects reflect broader return-prone demand expansion. The findings reposition physical stores not merely as sales generators, but as channel-specific assets that reduce online return risk while expanding offline demand.