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There's a whole lot more to Web‐based vertical marketing than simply installing a new software package.

The purpose of this article is twofold: first, to review the literature in order to assess the opportunities and the possible welfare effects of differentiation strategies in the food market; and second, to analyse the current structure and organisation of the fresh produce market (fruit, vegetable, and salad) in the light of new product procurement, innovation, and differentiation policies carried out by retailers at the global level.

The paper used a single dyadic case study across two countries (Italy and the UK): the primary producer is engaged in “partner” supply to a principal category management intermediary for channel leading multiple retailers.

First, equilibrium in differentiated markets is not stable, and a welfare assessment is difficult. Second, a differentiation strategy in the market for fresh produce might benefit retailers more than in other sectors, which seem to be consistent with the theoretical findings. Third, when retailers engage in product differentiation it is more likely that channel relationships shift from collaborative to competitive types, with the power imbalance becoming the disciplinary means by which vertical coordination is achieved and maintained.

This article was based on a single case study.

For suppliers it could be wise to agree to some inequity as the cost of doing business, especially when smart large retailers carry out successfully competitive strategies with positive spill‐over effects on the upstream firms.

Using the industrial economic literature on the effects of differentiation strategies (horizontal and vertical differentiation) on market structure, firms' performance, and welfare effects, this paper analyses case findings from a study in the fresh produce industry and will be of interest to those within the field.

Observes that supply chain management is a rapidly‐evolving subject which offers many insights into how industries are organized and into the efficiency gains which can be made under different organizational structures, pointing out that it is an interdisciplinary concept, drawing on aspects of marketing, economics, logistics, organizational behaviour, etc. Presents a framework from the economics literature which may be useful for those interested in understanding and exploring the concept of supply chain management. Describes the origins and development of transaction cost analysis and explains the key concepts of the framework. Discusses the potential effects of transaction costs on vertical co‐ordination within an industry and, hence, on supply chain management. Finally, suggests methods for empiricizing transaction cost analysis, resulting in recommendations for closer co‐operation between researchers and business managers.

This study takes the cinema industry as the research context and investigates the impact of online to offline (O2O) platforms on cinemas' performance. Specifically, the purposes of this paper are threefold: first, to study the influence of platform multihoming on cinemas' performance; second, to examine the interaction impact of platform multihoming and vertical integration; third, to investigate how the influence of platform multihoming varies with cinemas' performance.

This study collects data from 1918 cinemas in China, employs quantile regressions to estimate the model and test the proposed hypotheses and adopts an instrumental variable method to examine the robustness of our results.

The findings confirm the positive role of platform multihoming for cinemas' performance. However, when a cinema has low-degree platform multihoming, the cinema's vertical integration is positively associated with its performance; when a cinema has high-degree platform multihoming, the cinema's vertical integration is negatively associated with its performance. Furthermore, results from quantile regressions indicate that low-performance cinemas benefit more than high-performance cinemas from employing platform multihoming strategy.

This paper extends previous research by investigating the impact of platform multihoming on heterogeneous firms and the impact of interaction between platform multihoming and vertical integration. The findings imply that the impact of platform multihoming on firms' performance depends on firms' performance attributes and their vertical relationships.

Platform multihoming can be a double-edged sword for local service firms. When multihoming platforms, a local service firm should think about the fit between platforms and its own attributes, and identify the potential conflict between platform relationships and traditional relationships of industrial organization.

There is a growing interest in understanding platforms' role in the digital economy. The impact of platform participation on local service firms' performance is not sufficiently investigated. Previous research rarely addressed the impact by incorporating local service firms' performance attributes and the existing relationships of industrial organization.

While an ever‐increasing body of research on business networks has commented on vertically connected relationships, this study embeds the horizontally connected relationships. Constructed on business network theories the paper aims to add more knowledge on business networks by developing a connection model including both vertical and horizontal connections. The model aims to explore the impact of connections on focal business relationships. It differentiates connected relationships on the basis of their vertical and horizontal natures. The purpose is to grasp the impact of these different connected relationships on the focal business relationship. The focal relationship elements are defined by commitment and trust, which capture their properties from the dyadic interaction and the two types of connected relationships.

The paper tests the theoretical construction empirically. The empirical study is based on the IMP2 survey, utilizing information from extensive interviews with 138 firms regarding their relationships with important foreign customers.

The statistical findings in the form of a LISREL‐model clearly expose the impact of the horizontal connections and verify the validity of the theoretical model. It depicts that trust increase by vertical connections leading to increased commitment, thus strengthening the relationship while horizontal connection, on the contrary, weakens it. The facts also demonstrate how the horizontal connections impose effects on technological long‐term investments.

Marketing researchers advocating certain theoretical views are thereby required to observe respect for the market realities with which managers are confronted.

Strategic concentration is a key issue for manufacturing companies when designing a supply chain. As a corporate strategy and a supply chain governance strategy, vertical integration relates to organisational economics and strategic supply chain management. Numerous explanations have been created for vertical integration, and transaction cost economics (TCE) provides a theoretical basis to help understand the process. However, the current popularity of vertical integration seems inspired by something more than altering industry structure and minimising cost, which are the traditionally accepted explanations for vertical integration This paper aims to explore the driving forces for vertical integration, particularly downstream integration of distribution, and the consequences of vertical integration in a manufacturer‐distributor‐reseller chain.

This study adopted an exploratory case study approach to examine a Swedish‐based timber manufacturer that vertically integrated a distribution centre in the UK, which made it a direct supplier to DIY retailers and builders' merchants. Data were collected primarily through open‐ended, face‐to‐face interviews.

The study found that the most important factors driving the manufacturer's vertical integration of distribution were the demands of large retail chains and the manufacturer's decisions to focus on developing its positioning strategy in the supply chain. Vertical integration has transformed the manufacturer into a supplier to large timber products resellers, offering the firm a greater potential to provide integrated solutions and, therefore, become a strategic partner to its customers.

This empirical study examined a building material distribution channel, a subject that has rarely been studied. Study results add empirical evidence to explanations and impacts of vertical integration, especially the integration of customer interface.

This paper analyses the media ownership of professional sports teams. The theory of vertical integration is used to identify internal efficiency gains, lower uncertainty and increased market power as general explanations. The industryspecific reasons are examined, particularly the importance of securing access to broadcasting rights. The potential implications for teams, leagues and fans are discussed. It is suggested that media ownership of teams may undermine the sporting and financial viability of leagues thus necessitating intervention by sports administrators and government regulators.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the post-harvest supply chain enablers (PHSCEs) for vertical integration to enhance rural employability, farmer profitability and rural produce marketability (i.e. market prospects) in the post-harvest supply chain (PHSC). The impact of vertical integration is also explored for various commercial produces.

A structural equation modeling (SEM) of PHSCEs for vertical integration was developed to enhance market prospects, rural employability and farmer profitability. The impact of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer market prospects are explored in various dimensions for stakeholders such as farmers, manufacturers (processors), distributors and retailers. The fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (F-TOPSIS) was used to prioritize these PHSCEs to improve market prospects and rural employability.

The PHSCEs are clustered into three groups, namely, initiatives at the strategic frontier, initiatives at the tactical frontier and concerns for rural employability via vertical integration using exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and SEM to prove the null hypothesis. With F-TOPSIS results, the availability of warehousing was found to be the most crucial enabler when observing the PHSCEs from the initiatives’ perspective. The technology adaptability and availability, institute for training and research and information infrastructure and information visibility were found to be the key PHSCEs when observed from PHSC stakeholders’ perspectives.

The implementation of this study will improve the rural produce marketability, rural employability, B2B marketing (i.e. effective distribution) and subsequent value chains with the practice of vertical integration for fresh produce at the rural level.

The outcomes of this study have a key role in developing the rural regions and improving rural livelihoods via value addition. The awareness of commercial cultivation and value addition in rural areas needs to be improved. This will help farmers to earn better revenues with improved market prospects in comparison to the revenues obtained from the cultivation of staple/conventional crops.

In an era of cold chains and food processing, this study aims to disseminate awareness about value addition for commercial and fresh produces at the rural level. The implication of this study will improve rural produce marketability, rural employability and farmer profitability at the rural level with the level of vertical integration.

Regarding the global development of the wine industry, China has gained a notable share in terms of wine consumption, and its domestic wine production has increased steadily since 2000. The wine production process requires close coordination between growers and processors to avoid disruption and instability in the supply chain of the wine grapes. However, vertical coordination in the Chinese wine regions has received little attention. Based on the existing theoretical background on vertical coordination, this study aims to detect the evolution processes of vertical coordination in the Chinese grape market.

Exploratory qualitative research fits with the aim of this study. From December 2018 to January 2019, interviews with grape growers and wine processors of various Chinese wine-producing areas took place. After transcribing all recorded files into text, a qualitative data analysis following the approach of Mayring (2015) was used to analyse and interpret the data.

The models of vertical coordination in the grape supply in China vary between the producer's requirements on grape quality/quantity and the arrangements of grape supply chains, which are diverse depending on regional strategies of the local government.

However, in this research, the authors did not get into details on the organization of the contractual coordination, and due to the limited access to grape growers, the relationship between farmers and processors cannot be analysed in detail. With a better understanding of the coordination relationship and enhanced contract enforcement, the vineyard management and grape supply chain management can be better performed, inducing a steady industrial development.

Regarding the global development of the wine industry, China has gained a notable share in terms of wine consumption, and its domestic wine production has increased steadily since 2000. However, vertical coordination in the Chinese wine regions has received little attention. The study provides a first insight into the grape market structures, as very little is known.

This paper aims to review the vertical or quasi‐vertical integration that characterized the pharmaceutical industry in the mid‐1990s. The acquisitions and vertical partnerships that linked pharmacy benefits managers and drug manufacturers modified the structure of the market at that time. What were the motivations of those agreements? Did they induce any distortion on competition in the drug market? And why did they fail to achieve their desired strategic advantages?

The paper uses established theoretical perspectives, such as the resource‐based view and the theory of contestable markets, as the basis for a descriptive analysis, documenting strategic decisions of vertical integration using supporting literature in marketing and strategy.

Vertical integration did not obtain the intended results (e.g. acquisition of competitive advantages). This perspective provides a framework to examine vertical integration strategies, applicable to other industries.

The paper reviews the objectives of vertical integration strategies of US drug firms in the 1990s and their hidden agendas.