Information services and omnichannel retailing strategy choices of e-commerce platforms with supplier competition

The integration of offline channels and online channels has become a direction for the transformation and development of many e-commerce platforms, so omnichannel retailing has become an important strategy. Thus, we build a theoretical model between a platform and two suppliers to study the platform's optimal information service and omnichannel strategy choice (under a reselling agreement vs. under a hybrid retailing agreement). The results show that when the product competition intensity is low, an omnichannel strategy under a reselling agreement is conducive to increasing the offline information service level and profits of the platform. When the product competition intensity is high, the omnichannel strategy under a hybrid retailing agreement is the optimal choice, and the platform can set a smaller referral fee to transfer part of the profit to suppliers to encourage suppliers to enter omnichannel retailing. Furthermore, the platform can improve the information service level using new retailing technology, which can create a higher product showrooming effect. Finally, we introduce the case of China's household appliances to verify the effectiveness of our research and suggest that the platform establishes experience stores that can weaken the competitive relationship between suppliers and the platform to achieve a win-win strategy.

Automated summary

The integration of offline and online channels is crucial for the transformation and development of e-commerce platforms. This study examines the optimal information service and omnichannel strategy choice for a platform and two suppliers under different agreements. The findings suggest that the platform can increase offline information service and profits through an omnichannel strategy under a reselling agreement when product competition intensity is low. However, under high product competition intensity, the optimal choice is an omnichannel strategy under a hybrid retailing agreement, where the platform transfers profit to suppliers through a smaller referral fee.