The long-tail of online grocery shopping

The retail long tail effect implies that both the level and concentration of sales moves to slower selling products in online environments, and total sales rise. We analyze the effect of assortment variation on store sales using data from an online food seller in the Eastern United States. We find that the long-tail effect is more important in niche categories, deeper assortments are associated with a flatter distribution of sales, and total sales rise with variety. Our findings support the existence of a long tail in online food retailing. [EconLit citations: L16, L81, M31]