Amazon v/s flipkart – the ‘nash’ way

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to study the different strategies deployed by Amazon and Flipkart in the E-commerce market and analyzing those moves in the game theory context. The study then introduces some modifications of game theory models and connects them back to a few real strategies employed by Amazon and Flipkart. The discussion thus serves to underline the importance of game theory in the E-commerce market. A particular focus of the research is also the identification of the transition of competition away from price-based wars towards competition deploying non-price methodologies as a form of competitive strategy. We also develop a three period model to understand the imitation and innovation strategies. The model highlights the importance of customer stickiness in both imitations as well as in innovation decisions.