Optimal Online Referral Strategy and Incentive Mechanism in Offline to Online (O2O) Supply Chain

Abstract

Abstract:

Focusing on the offline to online (O2O) supply chain composed of an online retailer and a showroom, a principal-agent model based on game theory is established to optimize the design of incentive mechanism. The aim is to design the optimal commission contract and online referral effort and analyze the effect of online retailer's referral on the commission contract, profits of both partners and information value. The results show that, under certain conditions, online referral is able to improve the online retailer's expected profit and O2O supply chain's performance, and also decrease the retailer's loss due to asymmetric information. Meanwhile, to adjust the offline evaluate service based on the online referral, online referral does not always decrease the showroom's expected profit. Finally, a numerical example is given to illuminate the optimal commission contract and profits of both partners.

Key words: O2O supply chain, online referral, asymmetric information, commission contract

Jin Liang. Optimal Online Referral Strategy and Incentive Mechanism in Offline to Online (O2O) Supply Chain[J]. , 2019, 31(5): 242-253.

References

[1] 全国人大常委会. 中华人民共和国消费者权益保护法[Z]. http://www.npc.gov.cn/wxzl/gongbao/2014-01/02/content_1823351.htm, 2014-03-15
[2] 国家工商行政管理总局. 侵害消费者权益行为处罚办法[Z]. http://www.saic.gov.cn/zwgk/zyfb/zjl/xfzbhj/201501/t20150114_151320.html, 2015-01-15
[3] 易观智库. 中国网上零售市场典型企业发展研究报告[EB/OL]. http://www.analysys.cn/report/detail/15343.html, 2015-12-31
[4] Rao S., Rabinovich E., Raju D. The Role of Physical Distribution Services as Determinants of Product Returns in Internet Retailing[J]. Journal of Operations Management, 2014,32(6):295-312
[5] 新浪家居. 天猫爱蜂潮全新家居网购体验[EB/OL]. http://jiaju.sina.com.cn/news/20130607/313278.shtml, 2013-06-07
[6] 中国电子商务研究中心. 京东首涉线下"傍"新加坡iKnow探路实体店[EB/OL]. http://b2b.toocle.com/detail-6118826.html, 2013-08-19
[7] Gallino S., Moreno A. Integration of Online and Offline Channels in Retail:The Impact of Sharing Reliable Inventory Availability Information[J]. Management Science, 2014,60(6):1434-1451
[8] Gao F., Su X. Omnichannel Retail Operations with Buy-Online-and-Pick-up-in-Store[J]. Management Science, 2017,63(8):2478-2492
[9] Zhao F., Wu D., Liang L., et al. Lateral Inventory Transshipment Problem in Online-to-offline Supply Chain[J]. International Journal of Production Research, 2016,54(7):1-13
[10] Cao J., So K. C., Yin S. Impact of an "Online-to-Store" Channel on Demand Allocation, Pricing and Profitability[J]. European Journal of Operational Research, 2016,248(1):234-245
[11] 吴晓志,陈宏,张俊. 考虑在线补贴的零售商水平O2O供应链协调[J]. 中国管理科学, 2014,22(11):479-484
[12] Chen X., Wang X., Jiang X. The Impact of Power Structure on the Retail Service Supply Chain with an O2O Mixed Channel[J]. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 2016,67(2):294-301
[13] Bell D. R., Gallino S., Moreno A. How to Win in an Omnichannel World[J]. MIT Sloan Management Review, 2014,56(1):44-53
[14] Chopra S. How Omni-channel can Be the Future of Retailing[J]. Decision, 2016,43(2):135-144
[15] Bell D. R., Gallino S., Moreno A. Showrooms and Information Provision in Omni-channel Retail[J]. Production and Operations Management, 2015,24(3):360-362
[16] Gao F., Su X. Online and Offline Information for Omnichannel Retailing[J]. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2017,19(1):84-98
[17] 金亮,张旭梅,但斌,等. 交叉销售下"线下体验+线上零售"的O2O供应链佣金契约设计[J]. 中国管理科学, 2017,25(11):33-46
[18] Chen Y., Iyer G., Padmanabhan V. Referral Infomediaries[J]. Marketing Science, 2002,21(4):412-434
[19] Viswanathan S., Kuruzovich J., Gosain S., et al. Online Infomediaries and Price Discrimination:Evidence from the Automotive Retailing Sector[J]. Journal of Marketing, 2007,71(3):89-107
[20] Ghose A., Mukhopadhyay T., Rajan U. The Impact of Internet Referral Services on a Supply Chain[J]. Information Systems Research, 2007,18(3):300-319
[21] Wu H., Cai G. G., Chen J., et al. Online Manufacturer Referral to Heterogeneous Retailers[J]. Production and Operations Management, 2015,24(11):1768-1782
[22] Balakrishnan A., Sundaresan S., Zhang B. Browse-and-Switch:Retail-Online Competition under Value Uncertainty[J]. Production and Operations Management, 2014,23(7):1129-1145
[23] 冯艳刚,李健,吴军. 考虑消费者止步行为的供应链回购契约研究[J]. 管理评论, 2014,26(8):181-187
[24] 曹细玉,宁宣熙. 基于无缺陷退货下的三阶层易逝品供应链的协调性研究[J]. 管理评论, 2008,20(8):55-58
[25] Gu Z. J., Tayi G. K. Consumer Mending and Online Retailer Fit-uncertainty Mitigating Strategies[J]. Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 2015,13(3):251-282
[26] Zhu X. Management the Risks of Outsourcing:Time, Quality and Correlated Costs[J]. Transportation Research Part E:Logistics and Transportation Review, 2015,90(6):121-133
[27] Besbes O., Gur Y., Zeevi A. Optimization in Online Content Recommendation Services:Beyond Click-Through Rates[J]. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 2016,18(1):15-33