Supplier Encroachment Channel Selection on an Online Retail Platform

Online retail platforms offer encroachment opportunities for suppliers to directly sell products to consumers on the online market. However, how to select appropriate encroachment channels poses a significant challenge for suppliers. To solve this problem, we take one supplier selling products throu...

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Main Authors: Zongyu Mou, Kaixin Ding, Yaping Fu, Hao Sun
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-01-01
Series:Systems
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/1/66
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author Zongyu Mou
Kaixin Ding
Yaping Fu
Hao Sun
author_facet Zongyu Mou
Kaixin Ding
Yaping Fu
Hao Sun
author_sort Zongyu Mou
collection DOAJ
description Online retail platforms offer encroachment opportunities for suppliers to directly sell products to consumers on the online market. However, how to select appropriate encroachment channels poses a significant challenge for suppliers. To solve this problem, we take one supplier selling products through an indirect reselling channel on a third-party online retail platform (TORP) as the base model, and further consider that the supplier can choose TORP agency selling, the owned channel, or both to encroach onto the online market. We hereby establish game-theoretical models to analyze the optimal strategy of supplier encroachment, the TORP preference, and the equilibrium channel strategy. The findings show that the supplier is always willing to encroach onto the online market through its own channel. Additionally, when the commission rate is low, the supplier will further encroach via the TORP agency selling channel. The TORP provides the agency selling channel for the supplier only when the commission rate exceeds a certain threshold. If the channel competition is not very fierce (the competition intensity is lower than 0.852) and the commission rate is moderate, dual-channel encroachment is the equilibrium channel strategy; otherwise, supplier-owned-channel encroachment is the equilibrium strategy. We extend our main models by incorporating supplier blockchain adoption and the cost differences between both parties to enhance practical applicability.
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spelling doaj-art-e1826bee693849d5b9eb2e0220027a5e2025-01-24T13:50:41ZengMDPI AGSystems2079-89542025-01-011316610.3390/systems13010066Supplier Encroachment Channel Selection on an Online Retail PlatformZongyu Mou0Kaixin Ding1Yaping Fu2Hao Sun3School of Business, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaSchool of Business, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaSchool of Business, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaSchool of Business, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, ChinaOnline retail platforms offer encroachment opportunities for suppliers to directly sell products to consumers on the online market. However, how to select appropriate encroachment channels poses a significant challenge for suppliers. To solve this problem, we take one supplier selling products through an indirect reselling channel on a third-party online retail platform (TORP) as the base model, and further consider that the supplier can choose TORP agency selling, the owned channel, or both to encroach onto the online market. We hereby establish game-theoretical models to analyze the optimal strategy of supplier encroachment, the TORP preference, and the equilibrium channel strategy. The findings show that the supplier is always willing to encroach onto the online market through its own channel. Additionally, when the commission rate is low, the supplier will further encroach via the TORP agency selling channel. The TORP provides the agency selling channel for the supplier only when the commission rate exceeds a certain threshold. If the channel competition is not very fierce (the competition intensity is lower than 0.852) and the commission rate is moderate, dual-channel encroachment is the equilibrium channel strategy; otherwise, supplier-owned-channel encroachment is the equilibrium strategy. We extend our main models by incorporating supplier blockchain adoption and the cost differences between both parties to enhance practical applicability.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/1/66supplier encroachmentsupplier-owned channelonline retail platformselling cost differenceblockchain application
spellingShingle Zongyu Mou
Kaixin Ding
Yaping Fu
Hao Sun
Supplier Encroachment Channel Selection on an Online Retail Platform
Systems
supplier encroachment
supplier-owned channel
online retail platform
selling cost difference
blockchain application
title Supplier Encroachment Channel Selection on an Online Retail Platform
title_full Supplier Encroachment Channel Selection on an Online Retail Platform
title_fullStr Supplier Encroachment Channel Selection on an Online Retail Platform
title_full_unstemmed Supplier Encroachment Channel Selection on an Online Retail Platform
title_short Supplier Encroachment Channel Selection on an Online Retail Platform
title_sort supplier encroachment channel selection on an online retail platform
topic supplier encroachment
supplier-owned channel
online retail platform
selling cost difference
blockchain application
url https://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/13/1/66
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AT kaixinding supplierencroachmentchannelselectiononanonlineretailplatform
AT yapingfu supplierencroachmentchannelselectiononanonlineretailplatform
AT haosun supplierencroachmentchannelselectiononanonlineretailplatform