Manufacturer’s Sales Mode Selection In E-commerce Supply Chains Considering The Presence Of Store Brand

With the increase of Internet penetration,the increase in online consumers not only promotes e-commerce platforms to provide diversified sales modes but also accelerates the development of the platforms’ store brands.Considering the store brand of the platform,how to choose a suitable sales mode for national brand manufacturers in the e-commerce supply chain is an important issue that many firms need to face in developing their e-commerce business.In particular,the business environment,such as e-commerce platform information sharing,service investment,store brand production outsourcing,and brand spillover marketing,makes the research on pricing decisions and sales mode selection in the e-commerce supply chain more complicated and necessary.Based on the above practical background and related literature review,this dissertation aims to investigate the pricing decisions and sales mode selection of national brand manufacturers under different operation strategies by using methods,such as game theory,consumer utility theory,channel management theory,and optimization theory.This dissertation provides implications for firms in making their operations-related decisions.The relevant work of this dissertation is summarized as follows:1)National brand manufacturer’s sales mode selection considering the information sharing strategy for the platform with a store brand.We consider a two-tier supply chain consisting of a national brand manufacturer and an e-commerce platform that operates a store brand.Based on the manufacturer’s sales mode selection(i.e.,agency selling and reselling)and the information sharing strategy for the platform,we build four strategy scenarios and further analyze the interplay between the two strategies by using comparative analysis and backward induction methods.The results show that when the commission rate is low,the manufacturer chooses the agency mode,and the e-commerce platform shares the demand information with it;when the commission rate is moderate,the manufacturer can motivate the platform to share information with itself by adopting the agency mode;when the commission rate is sufficiently high,the manufacturer chooses the reselling mode,and the platform does not share information.This preference is influenced by the accuracy of information prediction--as the prediction accuracy rises,the manufacturer is more willing to adopt the agency mode and the platform is more inclined to share information.Furthermore,under the agency mode,information sharing of the platform can not only increase the platform’s profit from selling store brands but also achieve a win-win situation for both the manufacturer and the platform.2)National brand manufacturer’s sales mode selection considering the service investment strategy for the platform with a store brand.In recent years,as the agency selling mode flourishes,many e-commerce platforms increase the competitiveness of reseller channels through service investment.Considering the fact that the service investment strategy may affect the competition between the national and store brands,we examine a two-tier supply chain consisting of a national brand manufacturer and an e-commerce platform that operates a store brand to study the impact of the service investment on the manufacturer’s sales mode selection.Based on the manufacturer’s sales mode selection(i.e.,agency selling and reselling)and the service investment strategy for the platform,we build four strategy scenarios and further analyze the interplay between the two strategies by using comparative analysis and backward induction methods.The results show that when the commission rate and the perceived value of the store brand are low,the platform adopts the service investment strategy,and the manufacturer chooses the agency mode;when the perceived value of the store brand is high and the commission rate is low,the platform does not adopt the service investment strategy,but the manufacturer adopts the agency mode;when the commission rate is sufficiently high,the platform adopts the service investment strategy and the manufacturer uses the reselling mode.Moreover,we also show that when the platform moves first by setting the service investment strategy,if the perceived value of the store brand is low and the commission rate is moderate,the platform chooses not to use service investment strategy to induce the manufacturer to adopt the agency mode,which makes the platform better off.3)OEM’s sales mode selection considering the production outsourcing strategy for the platform’s store brand.We consider a three-tier supply chain consisting of two contract manufacturers,an original equipment manufacturer(OEM),and an e-commerce platform.Based on the OEM’s sales mode selection(i.e.,agency selling and reselling)and the outsourcing strategy(choosing the same contract manufacturer as that of the OEM or a different one)for the platform’s store brand,we build four strategy scenarios and further analyze the interplay between the two strategies by using comparative analysis and backward induction methods.The results show that the sales mode selection and the outsourcing strategy influence each other.Specifically,using the common(different)contract manufacturer encourages the OEM to choose the agency(reselling)mode.This preference is influenced by the store brand acceptance--as the store brand acceptance increases,the OEM is more likely to adopt the agency(reselling)mode.Furthermore,we find that at equilibrium,three strategy combinations emerge.Interestingly,to cope with the outsourcing strategy,the OEM may use the reselling mode instead of agency selling when the referral fee is low.In addition,the platform and OEM may encounter a prisoner’s dilemma when they set their strategies simultaneously.4)OEM’s sales mode selection considering the brand spillover marketing strategy for the platform’s store brand.In recent years,to better develop private brands,some e-commerce platforms may outsource their manufacturing to the same contract manufacturer as that of the national brand manufacturer(i.e.,original equipment manufacturer,OEM)and advertise this relationship,a phenomenon commonly referred to as brand spillover marketing strategy.In this chapter,we consider a three-tier supply chain consisting of two contract manufacturers,an original equipment manufacturer(OEM),and an e-commerce platform.Based on the OEM’s sales mode selection and the brand spillover with strategic outsourcing for the platform’s store brand,we build six strategy scenarios and further analyze their interaction by using comparative analysis and backward induction methods.The results show that the dark side of the brand spillover’s impact on the platform exists,and a higher brand spillover level causes a lower probability that the brand spillover strategy is adopted under agency selling.Furthermore,the three types of strategies influence each other.Specifically,when the private brand power is small,the platform always adopts the brand spillover strategy,which enhances the OEM’s incentives to adopt the agency mode;when the private brand power is intermediate,to combat the brand spillover strategy,the OEM may adopt the reselling mode to induce the platform to choose a different contract manufacturer from that of the OEM;when the private brand power is large,the platform chooses not to implement the brand spillover strategy but uses the same(different)contract manufacturer as(from)that of the OEM under agency selling(reselling).