Research On Multi-channel Coordination In E-supply Chain

Nowadays Internet shopping is becoming the priority preferred way besides the traditional retailing for more and more consumers, and simultaneously the online retailing mode is generally accepted by many companies and applied to the second complementary marketing channel. The supply chain system in the new environment is faced with a series of new challenges such as channel diversity, conflict and competition. Therefore the scientific design and management optimization of marketing channel is emergent for all companies pursuing the competitive advantage in the waves of electronic commerce.The literature review of channel coordination in E-supply chain is presented, and the optimal channel choice decision, channel competition (including service competition and product differentiation) and cooperation strategy for multi-channel company is proposed.Firstly, considering one manufacturer sales to customers with traditional retailing channel and Internet direct channel, a service competition model for dual-channel supply chain is established, and then the optimal decisions in centralized and decentralized supply chain are analyzed and the channel pricing, service provision and profit allocation between dual-channel and single channel are compared. The results reveal that the optimal decision of channel diversity in Stackelberg competition can be achieved based on the information about customer acceptance of Internet direct channel. Additionally the existing of direct channel leads to the promotion of service level of traditional retailer and the service competition between dual-channel contributes to more system profits of dual-channel supply chain with comparison to single channel.Secondly, the dual-product model is developed on the basis of one product dual-channel model and the effect of product variety on the pricing strategy, service provision and allocation of supply chain profit is analyzed, furthermore the numerical experiment under different level of product heterogeneity is applied to indicate the variety of supply chain profit. It is verified that the retailer's strategy of product differentiation relies on the customer's sensibility of channel service and acceptance of Internet channel. Therefore both the manufacturer and retailer benefit from the channel competition of heterogeneous product under certain conditions.Thirdly, to study the horizontal cooperation of information intermediation in dual-channel, the cooperation model of demand referral service is established. Moreover the optimal service level of infomediary and optimal order quantity of retailer both in centralized and decentralized supply chain is compared and the appropriate coordination contract is presented. The results reveal that the supply chain of demand referral cooperation is better than the supply chain without cooperation. Additionally higher service commission for infomediary leads to more marketing effort and the cost sharing contract of marketing effort enables the coordination of E-supply chain. The numerical experiment reveals that the feasible scope of service commission is restricted by the efficiency of Internet marketing of infomediary and the relevance between traditional channel demand and Internet demand.Finally, considering the service cooperation between a manufacturer and a retailer that can independently obtain a low-quality, discount substitute, an outsourcing service horizontal cooperation model is developed, and then the optimal decisions of supply chain members both in centralized and decentralized situation are compared. The coordination mechanism is presented for the supply chain effective cooperation. The results show that the service cooperation leads to the optimal allocation of service resource in supply chain system and promotes the profit of dual-channel partners to achieve win-win outcome. Furthermore the optimal decisions of service cooperation supply chain are positive correlation with channel market size, competition between dual-channel and customer service sensibility. Consequently the service commission contract with revenue sharing results in the coordination of the dual-channel E-supply chain system on certain parameters condition.This paper focuses on the multi-channel coordination in E-supply chain with the integration of the theory and methodology of interdisciplinary studies such as management science, economics, operation research and marketing. The supply chain members' strategies of channel competition and cooperation are presented. The results reflect some theoretical innovation value in supply chain research. The study is the research frontier of management and marketing science. The supply chain management of electronic commerce is becoming the recent research focus. Therefore, for the manufacturer and retailer facing with Internet revolution, this research can help them choose the suitable Internet channel strategy and appropriate competition or cooperation pattern, and additionally the results seem to be beneficial to enhance the efficiency of multi-channel supply chain management.