Selling mode choice and return policy for advance selling in an e-commerce platform with social influence

doi:10.1016/j.cie.2024.110620

	Selling mode choice and return policy for advance selling in an e-commerce platform with social influence
	Li, Haijiao1 ; Yang, Kuan 2; Yao, Ye1 ; Zhang, Guoqing 3
	2024-11
发表期刊	COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING
卷号	197
摘要	Advance selling is increasingly employed to mitigate demand uncertainty, raise consumer awareness of products, and even exert social influence on subsequent sales. However, consumers may hesitate to pre-order products due to uncertainty about product valuation. As a response, sellers have begun implementing return policies and utilizing online retail platforms to alleviate the uncertainty. This study aims to investigate the interaction between return policies for advance selling and selling formats of e-commerce platforms considering the impact of social influence. We examine a two-period platform supply chain that includes agency selling, reselling, and hybrid selling formats with and without return policies. Using game theory models, we analyze pricing decisions and profits of each player under six possible scenarios. The results indicate that the manufacturer consistently prefers adopting a Money-Back Guarantee (MBG) return policy regardless of the selling format. However, the MBG return policy is not always advantageous for the platform, except in the case of low social influence. In such a case, the platform may implement the MBG return policy to boost advance sales, thereby enhancing the penetration power from advance sales to regular sales. Regarding selling formats, the platform and the manufacturer opt for the reselling and agency selling, respectively, when the commission rate is low; otherwise, they adopt the agency selling and hybrid selling, respectively. Furthermore, we explore the impact of critical drivers on the pricing decisions and profits within the platform supply chain. Our study offers valuable insights into implementing return policies and determining selling formats.
关键词	Advance selling Return policy Online retail platform Social influence
DOI	10.1016/j.cie.2024.110620
收录类别	SCIE
ISSN	0360-8352
语种	英语
WOS研究方向	Computer Science ; Engineering
WOS类目	Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications ; Engineering, Industrial
WOS记录号	WOS:001334033500001
出版者	PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
原始文献类型	Article
EISSN	1879-0550
文献类型	期刊论文
条目标识符	http://ir.lzufe.edu.cn/handle/39EH0E1M/38149
专题	工商管理学院
通讯作者	Li, Haijiao
作者单位	1.Lanzhou Univ Finance & Econ, Sch Business Adm, Lanzhou 730101, Gansu, Peoples R China; 2.Hunan Univ, Sch Business Adm, Changsha 410082, Hunan, Peoples R China; 3.Univ Windsor, Supply Chain & Logist Optimizat Res Ctr, Dept Mech Automot & Mat Engn, Windsor, ON N9B 3P4, Canada
第一作者单位	兰州财经大学
通讯作者单位	兰州财经大学
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714	Li, Haijiao,Yang, Kuan,Yao, Ye,et al. Selling mode choice and return policy for advance selling in an e-commerce platform with social influence[J]. COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING,2024,197.
APA	Li, Haijiao,Yang, Kuan,Yao, Ye,&Zhang, Guoqing.(2024).Selling mode choice and return policy for advance selling in an e-commerce platform with social influence.COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING,197.
MLA	Li, Haijiao,et al."Selling mode choice and return policy for advance selling in an e-commerce platform with social influence".COMPUTERS & INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING 197(2024).