The impact of consumer returns policies on consignment contracts with inventory control

We consider a consignment contract with consumer non-defective returns behavior. In our model, an upstream vendor contracts with a downstream retailer. The vendor decides his consignment price charged to the retailer for each unit sold and his refund price for each returned item, and then the retailer sets her retail price for selling the product. The vendor gets paid based on net sold units and salvages unsold units as well as returned items in a secondary market. Under the framework, we study and compare two different consignment arrangements: the retailer/vendor manages consignment inventory (RMCI/VMCI) programs. To study the impact of return policy, we discuss a consignment contract without return policy as a benchmark. We show that whether or not the vendor offers a return policy, it is always beneficial for the channel to delegate the inventory decision to the vendor. We find that the vendor’s return policy depends crucially on the salvage value of returns. If the product has no salvage value, the vendor’s optimal decision is not to offer a return policy; otherwise, the vendor can gain more profit by offering a return policy when the salvage value turns out to be positive.     

Analysis and design of returns policies from a supplier's perspective

This paper considers the problem of designing a returns policy in a supply chain from a supplier's perspective. The supply chain considered here is assumed to have one supplier and one retailer who serves a random demand of a product with a short life cycle. The retailer can return all the unsold products to the supplier with a partial refund. We found that if the retailer behaviour is rational, that is, ordering the optimal quantity to maximize its expected profit, then both retailer and supplier could benefit from the returns policy. Furthermore, we established that the optimal buyback price is independent of the mean of the random demand, but the variance of the demand has a significant impact on setting the optimal buyback price. The higher the variance the higher the optimal buyback price and the larger the profit gain of both parties. Numerical studies are employed to help understand the benefits of returns policies for the supplier, the retailer, and the whole supply chain.     

A manufacturer's optimal quantity discount strategy and return policy through game-theoretic approach

This study generalised the traditional quantity discount problem with return contracts, in which a manufacturer promises to refund some fraction of the retailer's wholesale price if an item is returned, as a two-stage game. In the first stage the manufacturer and retailer determine the inventory level cooperatively. In the second stage, the manufacturer bargains with the retailer for quantity discount and return schemes to maintain channel efficiency. A menu of discount–return combinations is proposed for the manufacturer to make inventory decisions. The model developed will demonstrate that the return policy can be considered as mirror images of quantity discount strategy. That is, options with more generous return privileges are coupled with higher wholesale prices, whereas the lowest wholesale price comes with very strict limits on returns and a restocking fee for any returned goods.     

考虑供应商服务与零售商退货的定价博弈分析

研究由一个供应商和一个零售商组成的二级供应链,由供应商提供产品服务,零售商制定产品零售价,在一个销售周期结束后存在零售商向供应商的退货,退货产生的物流成本由零售商与供应商通过博弈的方式共同分担.基于博弈理论,建立了供应商和零售商以各自利润最大化为目标,以服务水平、零售价和退货为主要影响因素的Nash和Stackelberg博弈.采用数值方法,对这两个博弈进行了求解.得到供应商为零售商分担退货物流成本最优比例、供应商最优服务水平和零售商最优定价策略.研究表明,Nash博弈时的解是唯一的,此时供应商不会分担退货物流成本;Stackelberg博弈时,供应商分担退货物流成本比例依据批发价大小而定.     

B2C零售商退货渠道策略研究

基于全渠道环境下,考虑B2C零售商提供全额退款保证,建立了同渠道退货策略和全渠道退货策略下的博弈模型,研究B2C零售商的退货渠道策略选择问题。结果表明,全渠道退货策略下,B2C零售商总是会实施高价策略,且当消费者线上退货损失较大时,最优定价随着消费者线上退货损失递增,反之递减;当B2C零售商实体店退货产品处理成本较小时,全渠道退货策略能有效增加消费者需求,实施全渠道退货策略是占优的;从消费者的角度看,当产品匹配率和消费者线上退货损失较高时,B2C零售商将会实施全渠道退货策略。     

The impact of sharing customer returns information in a supply chain with and without a buyback policy

In this paper, we examine a single period problem in a supply chain in which a Stackelberg manufacturer supplies a product to a retailer who faces customer returns and demand uncertainty. We show that the manufacturer incurs a significant profit loss with and without a buyback policy if it fails to account for customer returns in the wholesale price decision. Under the assumption that the retailer is better informed than the manufacturer on customer returns information, we show that without a buyback policy, the retailer prefers not to share if the manufacturer overestimates while it prefers to share customer returns information if the manufacturer underestimates this information. If the manufacturer offers a buyback policy, we have the opposite results. We also discuss incentives to share the customer returns information and some of the issues that are raised in sharing this information.     

TPL介入的产运销供应链联盟决策及运作效率评价

在生产商批发价格为内生变量且TPL物流服务水平影响零售商市场需求的情形下,研究了整体联盟、分散决策、产运联盟和运销联盟四种模式下产运销供应链系统内各决策主体的决策行为以及系统的运作效率。分别构建了各决策模式下的数学模型,并证明了系统最优解或博弈均衡解的存在性和唯一性。通过对上述四种模式下的运算结果进行两两比较,发现:较之整体联盟,其他三种决策模式下系统利润均出现损失;其他三种模式下的最优订购量、物流服务水平和二者的比值大小均取决于某些特定的条件,这导致TPL介入的供应链内部联盟并非一定能使系统整体运作效率获得提高。进一步通过数值算例对零售价格和可变物流服务成本进行了灵敏度分析,发现在大多数情形下,运销联盟模式下的系统运作效率是上述三种决策模式中最高的。     

Consumer returns reduction and information revelation mechanism for a supply chain

In this paper, we develop two revelation mechanism models of a supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and one retailer under asymmetric information, where the retailer provides store assistance (SA) to reduce consumer returns rate and increase demand. Under full information, we find that a higher returns rate or returns handling cost increases the SA level if the market scale is sufficiently high. In the demand information asymmetry model, we find that: (i) the low-type retailer (facing a low demand) has no incentive to distort demand information while the high-type retailer may report wrong information; (ii) the manufacturer would like to design a menu of wholesale price-order quantity contract to induce truthful demand information and the manufacturer pays an information rent to the high-type retailer if the returns rate or returns handling cost for the retailer is sufficiently low; (iii) asymmetry of information does not change the monotonicity of the unit wholesale price in the retailer’s type, and information asymmetry decreases the retail price but increases the SA level. Unlike the demand information asymmetry model, a higher retailer’s returns handling cost expands the effects of information asymmetry on the retail price and the SA level, and using revelation mechanism decreases the channel profit if the retailer’s returns handling cost is sufficiently high under the returns rate information asymmetry model.     

产能约束对闭环供应链回收渠道选择的影响

在制造商存在产能约束下,建立了再制造闭环供应链回收渠道决策的Stackelberg博弈模型,得出了三种回收渠道下的回收率、零售价以及制造商、零售商和供应链的利润,分析了制造商的生产能力对回收渠道决策的影响。研究表明:存在产能约束时,制造商回收渠道中的回收率总是最高的,这与无产能约束时零售商回收渠道中回收率最高的情况明显不同;同时,若废旧产品回收转移支付价格较低,制造商会选择自己回收,此时的零售价最低,制造商、零售商和供应链利润最高;若回收转移支付价格较高,制造商会选择零售商回收,此时的零售价最低,制造商和供应链利润最高。     

退货情形下基于替代率的两产品联合订货决策研究

研究了一类在产品订货模型中考虑客户退货和产品间替代的两产品联合最优订货决策问题.假定客户以一概率退回其所购产品,退货产品经修复后可重新在市场上进行销售,销售期末未售出的商品只能在二级市场上降价处理,且不同产品间存在替代关系,销售商以自身利润最大化为目标确定两产品的订货量,得到其最优订货量及一些性质.研究结果表明:在允许退货的背景下,替代策略的采用将会进一步提高销售商利润.     

Online product returns risk assessment and management

Commonly viewed as a cost center from an operations perspective, product returns have the potential to strongly influence operating margins and business profitability, thus constituting a risk for online retailers. This work addresses the problem of how to assess and manage product returns costs using a risk analysis methodology. Online product returns are seen as a random phenomenon that fluctuates in severity over time, threatening the profitability of the online store. Therefore, the starting point is that this risk can be modeled as a future random stream of payments. Given one or many future time periods, we aim to assess and manage this risk by answering two important questions: (1) Pricing—or what dollar amount factored on top of the current price of goods sold online would cover the cost of product returns, and (2) Reserving—or how much capital does an online retailer need to reserve at the beginning of each period to cover the cost of online product returns. We develop our analysis for one period (a month) by a closed formula model, and for multi-period (a year) by a dynamic simulation model. Risk measurements are executed in both cases to answer the two main questions above. We exemplify this methodology using an anonymized archival database of actual purchase and return history provided by a large size US women’s apparel online retailer.     

电子商务环境下定价与退货策略整合优化研究

在电子商务供应链环境下,顾客直接从电子市场采购商品,失去了现场检查商品性能与质量的机会,结果造成顾客对所购商品不满意甚至退货的可能性增加.一个清晰、优惠的退货条例会受到顾客的欢迎,增加市场需求,提升企业的竞争力,然而,对制造厂家来说既可能增加收入,也可能增加退货成本.本文以商品价格和退货退款为决策变量,建立企业利润最大化模型,以此为依据企业可获得最优的定价和退货退款比例,使得从事电子商务的经理们有了使企业获得最大利润的理论依据.最后,指出了未来可能的几个研究方向.     

Integrated multi-site aggregate production-pricing planning in a two-echelon supply chain with multiple demand classes

This paper proposes a production and differential pricing decision model in a two-echelon supply chain that involves a demand from two or more market segments. In this framework, the retailer is allowed to set different prices during the planning horizon. While integrated production-marketing management has been a key research issue in supply chain management for a long time, little attention has been given to set prices and marketing expenditures in integrated multi-site (parallel) manufacturing systems and multiple demand classes. Generally, the presence of multiple demand classes induced by different market segments may impose demand leakage and then change production plan and ordering policies throughout the supply chain system. To tackle this problem, this paper develops a novel approach in order to provide an optimal aggregate production and marketing plan by interconnecting the sales channels of the retailer and demand. A non-linear model is established to determine optimal price differentiation, marketing expenditures and production plans of manufacturing sites in a multi-period, multi-product and multi-sale channels production planning problem by maximizing total profit of the supply chain. To handle the model and obtain solutions, we propose an efficient analytical model based upon convex hulls. Finally, we apply the proposed procedure to a clothing company in order to show usefulness and significance of the model and solution method.     

Analysis of the effectiveness of manufacturer-sponsored retailer gift cards in supply chains

Some manufacturers sponsor “free” retailer gift cards to be given to consumers who purchase their products. These gift cards are paid for by the manufacturer and are redeemable on all products at the retailer. We develop a model of such a supply chain. We analyze cases in which the gift cards’ redemption rate is constant or increasing in gift card value. The results indicate that in addition to the redemption rate and consumers’ valuation for gift card dollars, the profitability of manufacturer-sponsored gift cards depends on the average gross margin of the retailer and the type of purchases consumers make with gift cards. Furthermore, we show that under certain conditions, free gift cards will increase the expected profits of the retailer and manufacturer as well as decrease the retail price of the product. These conditions include a retailer with large average gross margin and consumers using gift cards to purchase products they would not buy with cash otherwise. Furthermore, all consumers, including those who do not redeem the gift card, are more likely to benefit from a reduced retail price when their probability of redeeming the gift card after purchase is equal to their estimated redemption probability at purchase time. We show the conditions under which gift cards are more profitable than cash mail-in rebates. We develop an incentive scheme to improve the performance of supply chains with gift cards.     

制造商广告激励策略对灰色市场的影响研究

在灰色市场的背景下,构建了由一个制造商和两个独立市场的零售商构成的两阶段供应链模型。依据产品估值将市场分为高端和低端市场,基于价格差异,低端市场的零售商为了实现投机套利会在高端市场中销售原本属于低端市场的产品。研究了灰色市场与制造商广告激励策略对供应链的影响问题。研究表明：若低端市场消费者对产品评价较低,灰色市场可增加制造商的利润;而低端市场消费者对产品估值较高时,灰色市场会减少制造商利润。进一步引入了制造商广告激励策略,得出广告激励不仅可以抑制灰色市场,而且可以在不降低高端市场零售商利润的情况下,让制造商和低端市场零售商的收益增加。     

多渠道供应链中的跨渠道退货服务策略研究

考虑在一个多渠道供应链结构中,零售商同时拥有实体店和网店,制造商开设直营网店且通过双渠道零售商销售产品。考虑消费者的无产品质量退货现象,研究了双渠道零售商为消费者提供跨渠道退货服务的多渠道整合问题。揭示了零售商愿意提供跨渠道退货服务的条件,探讨了跨渠道退货服务策略对市场均衡的影响,并且构建了制造商和零售商之间基于横向合作处理消费者退货的供应链机制,以改善双方的利润。     

考虑消费者行为转化的零售商两阶段动态定价研究

考虑消费者呈现的不同行为特征,将其划分为两类:策略型和短视型。不同类型的消费者对同一产品会给出差别估价,假设这一估价呈随机分布,研究存在消费者行为转化的产品两阶段动态定价问题。引入消费者剩余对策略型和短视型消费者的市场响应特征进行描述,考虑贴现率,建立两阶段动态定价模型,分析不同类型消费者的差别决策过程,并且采用逆推法求解动态定价模型,得到最优价格策略。研究表明消费者期望购买数量与降价幅度都和转化率成负相关,此外,通过对比考虑转化和不考虑转化的两种情形下零售商总的期望利润,发现如果零售商没有考虑转化率而仅根据市场初期调查的消费者构成来进行产品定价将会给零售商带来损失,并且两种情形的利润差值随转化率的升高呈先上升后下降的变化趋势。     

基于电子优惠券的多渠道整合策略研究

在由制造商的网络直销渠道和混合零售商的实体渠道和网络渠道所构成的多渠道供应链中,考虑存在消费者无缺陷退货和消费者对购买渠道偏好的异质性,研究了混合零售商的基于电子优惠券的多渠道整合策略问题。探明了混合零售商愿意采用电子优惠券实现多渠道整合的临界条件,揭示了多渠道整合策略对市场均衡的影响,并且构建了基于零售商订货量和接受消费者退货量的转移支付机制来协调多渠道供应链。     

基于不同融资方式的双渠道供应链定价决策

针对由一个制造商和一个有资金约束零售商组成的双渠道供应链系统,利用Stackelberg博弈模型,研究零售商分别选择银行贷款和延迟支付解决资金约束问题时,不同定价方案中制造商和零售商的最优决策,分析零售渠道市场份额以及融资利率对决策结果的影响。研究表明:零售商的资金不足不会改变各参与方最优决策随零售渠道市场份额的变化趋势。在双渠道不统一定价方案下,若选择银行贷款,只有零售渠道市场份额较小且利率较高时,直销价格随利率的增加而增加;若申请延迟支付,零售价格和直销价格不受利率影响。在双渠道统一定价方案下,销售价格只有在零售渠道市场份额较低时随银行贷款利率的增加而增加,与延迟支付利率无关。     

Optimal ordering and pricing policy for an inventory system with trial periods

It is a business practice that home shopping companies offer a free trial period for their products with a goal of increasing sales. Under this policy, if for any reason customers are not satisfied with the purchase, they can return the product for a refund within the trial period. To develop inventory strategies in such environment, home shopping companies should take the return phenomenon into account so as to increase their profit. This paper considers this phenomenon and develops a seasonal inventory model to deal with the problem. Two scenarios are analyzed. In the first scenario, demand is assumed to be linearly price-dependent while in the second one, it is assumed to be exponentially price-dependent. The purpose of this research is to maximize the total profit over a given planning period by determining the optimal ordering quantity and price. The analytical results demonstrate that the optimal ordering quantity and prices are obtained using closed-form formulas.