Research On E-commerce Supply Chain Strategy Based On Channel Selection And Information Sharing

With rapid advances in information technology,e-commerce has grown tremendously over the past few decades.Consumers can now shop online directly via the Internet and mobile devices,which makes the consumption pattern no longer limited to the traditional entity channel,while providing more choices,also increased the convenience of consumption.However,this change has also intensified the frequency of showrooming effect and competition between online and offline channels,and has had a profound impact on the decision-making of members of the e-commerce supply chain members,forcing traditional enterprises to re-examine their operating methods and business models to better adapt to the new market environment and requirements,thus promoting the entire e-commerce industry progress and innovation.Based on this background,this paper focuses on the operational decision-making of members in e-commerce supply chain under different market environment,aiming at the field of channel selection and information sharing,different from the existing research results,considering the influence of key operation decision strategies such as ecommerce sales mode selection strategy,offline service effort strategy,market channel intrusion strategy and information sharing strategy on the whole e-commerce supply chain,combining optimization theory with game theory,this paper analyzes and discusses the modeling,which can provide effective theoretical basis and practical technical control means for the decision-making of enterprise operators.The specific research contents and conclusions are as follows:(1)The phenomenon of offline experience and online purchase brought by the showroom effect has brought many troubles and disadvantages to manufacturers and retailers.Therefore,it is particularly important to study the interaction between the sales model selection strategy of e-commerce platforms and the offline service effort strategy of manufacturers under the showroom effect.Based on a dual-channel e-commerce supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and an e-commerce platform,four different scenarios are established to obtain an equilibrium solution.The study shows that when the showroom effect or channel competition is large,the manufacturer should not adopt the service effort strategy in the offline channel;when both the showroom effect and channel competition are small,the manufacturer should adopt the service effort strategy,which is beneficial to both the manufacturer and the ecommerce platform,or else the profit of the supply chain will be affected by the strategy of the e-commerce platform’s sales model selection.In addition,the adoption of the manufacturer’s service effort strategy has an important impact on the selection of the e-commerce platform’s sales model;when the commission rate and channel competition are small,the manufacturer’s service effort strategy may induce the e-commerce platform to adopt the agency model due to the showroom effect and the competition effect.(2)Along with the increasing uncertainty of market demand,how to obtain and share market demand information becomes more and more important.Under the showroom effect,for the study between manufacturers’ service effort strategies and e-commerce platforms’ information sharing strategies under different sales modes,eight different scenarios are established and equilibrium solutions are obtained based on the research foundation in Chapter III.The study shows that sharing demand information on e-commerce platforms leads to an increase in manufacturers’ profits regardless of the kind of sales model they adopt and regardless of whether they adopt a service effort strategy or not.Whether an e-commerce platform shares demand information is influenced by the manufacturer’s choice of sales model and the adoption of service effort strategy.Regardless of which sales model a manufacturer chooses,the platform’s sharing of information and the manufacturer’s adoption of a service effort strategy may result in a win-win situation.(3)With the continuous development and improvement of multichannel e-commerce supply chains,product competition and channel conflicts become more intense and frequent.Studying the interplay between the contract manufacturer’s strategy of establishing its own brand to invade the online market channel and the e-commerce platform’s strategy of establishing its own brand introduction in the channel invasion environment can provide a better decision-making tool for business operators.Based on an e-commerce supply chain consisting of a contract manufacturer,an original equipment manufacturer and an e-commerce platform,four different scenarios are established and equilibrium solutions are obtained.The study shows that the intrusion of the contract manufacturer may prevent the e-commerce platform from introducing its own brand;while the introduction of the e-commerce platform’s own brand increases the likelihood of the contract manufacturer’s intrusion into the online market channel.When contract manufacturers or e-commerce platforms invade the online market channel by introducing private labels,the profit of the supply chain increases.When both members introduce private labels at the same time,it can harm the profit of the whole supply chain.When the difference between the two private labels is not significant,the contract manufacturer can choose to invade through the online marketplace channel,while the e-commerce platform should not introduce private labels.(4)Under the channel invasion environment,the adoption or non-adoption of e-commerce platform demand information sharing strategy in the supply chain affects the final decision of the enterprise managers,so its research can provide a basis for the managers to execute better decisions.Based on the research foundation in Chapter 5,four different information sharing scenarios are established.The study shows that contract manufacturers always want e-commerce platforms to share information with them,especially when they only share with them,which is the most profitable;whereas when contract manufacturers do not have access to demand information,whether or not e-commerce platforms share information with OEMs will not affect their profits.E-commerce platforms are not always willing to share demand information,and e-commerce platforms may also make OEMs more profitable by sharing demand information only with contract manufacturers.In summary,on the theoretical side,the research in this paper innovatively reveals the important impact of these key operational strategies on e-commerce supply chain decisionmaking,which is a good addition to the research in related fields;on the practical side,the research in this paper provides technical guidance on key decision-making for members at all levels in e-commerce supply chains,which is important for improving the effectiveness and efficiency of supply chains.Therefore,based on the research of channel selection and information sharing strategy in e-commerce supply chain has important theoretical and practical value for the development of e-commerce industry.