A Study On Supply-chain-based Retail Trade's Marketing Cooperation Game

More than one hundred years' development makes the retail trade so mature but it is also very closely related to people's daily life nowadays.China's entry into WTO involves the local enterprises in retail trade into international competition. Effective marketing strategies play an important role in retail trade but China's retailing firms need to strengthen these capabilities.In addition,the ideology of supply chain management changes gradually the competition between companies to the one between supply chains,so firms in a same supply chain should cooperate more closely in every fields including the marketing.However,each company in supply chain is self-governed and has his/her self interest in the final analysis.Then a relationship combining competition with cooperation appears.In such a relationship,when it comes to the marketing strategies' cooperation,how enterprises make decisions to deal with different issues deserves deep and extensve research.This paper paid close attention to the rules and facts of the evolution of the relationship between manufacturers and retailers in retail trade,based on the idea of supply chain management to construct a two echelon supply chain with manufacturer and retailer,and studied the cooperation & competition between manufacturer and rctailer on product tactic,pricing tactic and promotion tactic.Numerical studies on main game models were carried out,tOO.The details are as follows.1.Discussed the basic reason and main requirements for supply chain's cooperation.We summed up the basic reason to one aspect,interest.Entities in supply chain start up and join in cooperation only for enough interest.And we considered the main requirements for long cooperation for three aspects,trust, information sharing,and win-win.2.Analyzed the product characteristics in retail trade,and surrounding product tactic in marketing mix,put costs-reducing R&D for an example to research the independent and cooperative R&D investments between tow manufacturers,and between one manufacturer and one retailer.Numerical study was also carried out.It is found that the manufacturer should cooperate with other manufacturers,but cooperation in R&D investments with retailers will be affected greatly by R&D's difficulty level.3.Studied the pricing game in a simple two-echelon supply chain and a supply chain with hybrid channel.In the hybrid channel supply chain,three games were discussed and compared,which was Nash equilibrium game,manufacturer-led Stackelberg game,and retailer-led Stackelberg game,and also made numerical research.It is found that in the simple supply chain first mover has advantages of first moving,and in the hybrid channel supply chain the manufacturer who has two channels gains more profits than the retailer.Therefore,manufacturers should build direct channels to compete with the rapidly growing retail power.4.Put forward an idea of supply chain pricing between the manufacturer and the retailer.This idea changed pricing tactic from a competition method to a cooperation one.This paper analyzed the profits increasing route of supply chain pricing,generalized its successful factors,and discussed its operating conditions. The idea of supply chain pricing will probably influences manufacturers and retailers' pricing strategies and tactics to a great extend.5.Discussed the cooperative advertising investments decision-making in two kinds of supply chain structures,and carried out a numerical study.Three garne models,manufacturer-led Stackelberg game,Nash equilibrium game,and closely cooperative advertising game,were compared and analyzed in both a simple supply chain and the one with two manufacturers and one retailer.The research's results of parameters' influences may provide advices for manufacturers and retailers in the process of cooperative advertising investments decision-making.This paper references many literature and research fruits.Except for some limitation it has several innovations.Details are as follows.1.The research on product's R&D investments game between manufacturers and retailers unfolds technical spill-out effect and R&D difficulty's level's influences on the decision-making,and a related numerical study gives some suggestions,too.2.Through a study on the pricing tactics games in a hybrid channel,this paper suggests manufacturers build direct channels to fight with the stronger retailing power.However,from the whole view of supply chain strategy,it proposes an idea of supply chain pricing,which changes pricing tactic from a competition method to a cooperation one.This will probably influences manufacturers and retailers' pricing strategies and tactics to a great extend.3.Through the research on promotion tactics investments game in a supply chain with one manufacturer and one retailer,and a supply chain with two manufacturers and one retailer,this dissertation argues that the cooperation of manufacturer and retailer on advertising will probably increase total profits of supply chain,and proper profits distributions will ensure long-term cooperation.