IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ejores/v283y2020i1p138-151.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategic dual-channel pricing games with e-retailer finance

Author

Listed:
  • Yan, Nina
  • Liu, Yang
  • Xu, Xun
  • He, Xiuli

Abstract

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) often face obstacles in reaching consumers and obtaining sufficient capital for their production and operations processes. Owning channel advantages and rich transaction data regarding suppliers’ sales, inventory, and credits, e-commerce platforms (henceforth, e-retailers) can offer online distribution channels and online financing service for SMEs to facilitate their distribution and alleviate their capital constraints. This study analyzes the pricing competition in a dual-channel supply chain consisting of one capital-constrained supplier and one e-retailer providing finance. The supplier can sell her products either through the e-retailer using the online channel or through her direct offline channel. The e-retailer offers finance to the supplier if she is capital-constrained. We examine the equilibrium price and the associated optimal quantity and profits in dual channels when supplier may face capital constraint and compete with e-retailer horizontally or vertically. We find that e-retailer finance is a value-added service for e-retailer and that the increased profits generated from financing offerings can offset the lowered revenue in the online distribution channel. E-retailer finance can increase market share, which also benefits the supplier. Participating in the vertical competition through announcing pricing decisions earlier than does the supplier can help the e-retailer seize the first-mover advantage. Further, we present the value of e-retailer finance and examine the impact of various financing, operational, and consumer-related factors on pricing and channel structure. We also provide guidelines for e-retailers and financing-constrained suppliers to utilize e-retailer finance to optimize their dual-channel structure and to make optimal pricing decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan, Nina & Liu, Yang & Xu, Xun & He, Xiuli, 2020. "Strategic dual-channel pricing games with e-retailer finance," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 283(1), pages 138-151.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:283:y:2020:i:1:p:138-151
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ejor.2019.10.046
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0377221719308987
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ejor.2019.10.046?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lin Tian & Asoo J. Vakharia & Yinliang (Ricky) Tan & Yifan Xu, 2018. "Marketplace, Reseller, or Hybrid: Strategic Analysis of an Emerging E‐Commerce Model," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 27(8), pages 1595-1610, August.
    2. Amy Fitzpatrick & Bobby Lien, 2013. "The Use of Trade Credit by Businesses," RBA Bulletin (Print copy discontinued), Reserve Bank of Australia, pages 39-46, September.
    3. Timothy W. McGuire & Richard Staelin, 1983. "An Industry Equilibrium Analysis of Downstream Vertical Integration," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(2), pages 161-191.
    4. Lahuerta Otero, Eva & Muñoz Gallego, Pablo A. & Pratt, Renée M.E., 2014. "Click-and-Mortar SMEs: Attracting customers to your website," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 57(6), pages 729-736.
    5. Xiangfeng Chen & Gangshu (George) Cai & Jing-Sheng Song, 2019. "The Cash Flow Advantages of 3PLs as Supply Chain Orchestrators," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(2), pages 435-451, May.
    6. Boray Huang & Andy Wu & David Chiang, 2018. "Supporting small suppliers through buyer-backed purchase order financing," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 56(18), pages 6066-6089, September.
    7. Jiang, Zhong-Zhong & Fang, Shu-Cherng & Fan, Zhi-Ping & Wang, Dingwei, 2013. "Selecting optimal selling format of a product in B2C online auctions with boundedly rational customers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 226(1), pages 139-153.
    8. Lode Li, 2002. "Information Sharing in a Supply Chain with Horizontal Competition," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(9), pages 1196-1212, September.
    9. Matsui, Kenji, 2017. "When should a manufacturer set its direct price and wholesale price in dual-channel supply chains?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(2), pages 501-511.
    10. Chen, Jing & Chen, Bintong & Li, Wei, 2018. "Who should be pricing leader in the presence of customer returns?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 265(2), pages 735-747.
    11. Christopher S. Tang & S. Alex Yang & Jing Wu, 2018. "Sourcing from Suppliers with Financial Constraints and Performance Risk," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 70-84, February.
    12. Amy David & Elodie Adida, 2015. "Competition and Coordination in a Two-Channel Supply Chain," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 24(8), pages 1358-1370, August.
    13. Cai, Gangshu (George) & Zhang, Zhe George & Zhang, Michael, 2009. "Game theoretical perspectives on dual-channel supply chain competition with price discounts and pricing schemes," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 80-96, January.
    14. Chen, Yenming J. & Sheu, Jiuh-Biing, 2017. "Non-differentiated green product positioning: Roles of uncertainty and rationality," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 248-260.
    15. Wang, Cuixia & Leng, Mingming & Liang, Liping, 2018. "Choosing an online retail channel for a manufacturer: Direct sales or consignment?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 195(C), pages 338-358.
    16. Agatz, Niels A.H. & Fleischmann, Moritz & van Nunen, Jo A.E.E., 2008. "E-fulfillment and multi-channel distribution - A review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 187(2), pages 339-356, June.
    17. Thin-Yin Leong & Michelle L.F. Cheong, 2012. "Multi-party multi-period supply chain coordination," International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 10(3), pages 300-318.
    18. Anantaram Balakrishnan & Shankar Sundaresan & Bo Zhang, 2014. "Browse-and-Switch: Retail-Online Competition under Value Uncertainty," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 23(7), pages 1129-1145, July.
    19. Tunay I. Tunca & Weiming Zhu, 2018. "Buyer Intermediation in Supplier Finance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(12), pages 5631-5650, December.
    20. Gao, Guang-Xin & Fan, Zhi-Ping & Fang, Xin & Lim, Yun Fong, 2018. "Optimal Stackelberg strategies for financing a supply chain through online peer-to-peer lending," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 267(2), pages 585-597.
    21. B. C. Giri & B. R. Sarker, 2016. "Coordinating a two-echelon supply chain under production disruption when retailers compete with price and service level," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 71-88, April.
    22. Shiming Deng & Chaocheng Gu & Gangshu (George) Cai & Yanhai Li, 2018. "Financing Multiple Heterogeneous Suppliers in Assembly Systems: Buyer Finance vs. Bank Finance," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 53-69, February.
    23. ., 2012. "Water Supply," Chapters, in: Regulatory Reform of Public Utilities, chapter 5, pages 75-86, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yan, Nina & Zhang, Yaping & Xu, Xun & Gao, Yongling, 2021. "Online finance with dual channels and bidirectional free-riding effect," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    2. Wang, Jing & Wang, Kai & Li, Xiang & Zhao, Ruiqing, 2022. "Suppliers’ trade credit strategies with transparent credit ratings: Null, exclusive, and nonchalant provision," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 297(1), pages 153-163.
    3. Li, Yanhai & Ou, Jinwen & Gu, Chaocheng, 2023. "Buyer guarantee and bailout in supplier finance with bankruptcy cost," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 305(1), pages 287-299.
    4. Zhang, Li-Hao & Zhang, Cheng, 2022. "Manufacturer encroachment with capital-constrained competitive retailers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 296(3), pages 1067-1083.
    5. Wang, Kai & Lin, Jun & Liu, Guoquan & Liu, Qi, 2022. "Strategic introduction of logistics retail and finance under competition and channel spillover," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 165(C).
    6. Zhang, Ting & Su, Yina & Wang, Ningning, 2023. "Product quality improvement under retailer-direct financing: Effects of attitudes toward extreme weather," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    7. Gu, Chaocheng & Wei, Juan & Wei, Ying, 2021. "Sourcing under competition: The implications of supplier capital constraint and supply chain co-opetition," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    8. Matsui, Kenji, 2017. "When should a manufacturer set its direct price and wholesale price in dual-channel supply chains?," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(2), pages 501-511.
    9. Xiao Huang, 2022. "Financing Disruptive Suppliers: Payment Advance, Timeline, and Discount Rate," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(3), pages 1115-1134, March.
    10. Lixi Zhou & Tijun Fan & Jie Yang & Lihao Zhang, 2022. "Monopolistic vs. Competitive Supply Chain Concerning Selection of the Platform Selling Mode in Three Power Structures," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-27, September.
    11. Li, Guo & Zhang, Xuefeng & Chiu, Su-Mei & Liu, Mengqi & Sethi, Suresh P., 2019. "Online market entry and channel sharing strategy with direct selling diseconomies in the sharing economy era," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 135-147.
    12. Zhen, Xueping & Shi, Dan & Li, Yongjian & Zhang, Chu, 2020. "Manufacturer’s financing strategy in a dual-channel supply chain: Third-party platform, bank, and retailer credit financing," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    13. Wenli Wang & Qinhong Zhang, 2021. "Financing the newsvendor: raising the loan limit by insurance contract," Operational Research, Springer, vol. 21(4), pages 2907-2932, December.
    14. Zhang, Xuefeng & Li, Guo & Liu, Mengqi & Sethi, Suresh P., 2021. "Online platform service investment: A bane or a boon for supplier encroachment," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    15. Ma, Cheng & Dai, Yuankang & Li, Zhongfei, 2022. "Financing format selection for electronic business platforms with a capital-constrained e-tailer," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    16. Hua, Shengya & Sun, Shuxiao & Liu, Zhongyi & Zhai, Xin, 2021. "Benefits of third-party logistics firms as financing providers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 294(1), pages 174-187.
    17. Fu, Ke & Wang, Ce & Xu, Jiayan, 2022. "The impact of trade credit on information sharing in a supply chain," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    18. Wang, Chengfu & Chen, Xiangfeng & Xu, Xun & Jin, Wei, 2023. "Financing and operating strategies for blockchain technology-driven accounts receivable chains," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 304(3), pages 1279-1295.
    19. Zelong Yi & Yulan Wang & Ying‐Ju Chen, 2021. "Financing an Agricultural Supply Chain with a Capital‐Constrained Smallholder Farmer in Developing Economies," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(7), pages 2102-2121, July.
    20. Alaei, Amir Mohammad & Taleizadeh, Ata Allah & Rabbani, Masoud, 2022. "Marketplace, reseller, or web-store channel: The impact of return policy and cross-channel spillover from marketplace to web-store," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ejores:v:283:y:2020:i:1:p:138-151. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/eor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.