ABSTRACT Traditionally, the online retailer has adopted the wholesale pricing model to work with heterogeneous manufacturers, that is, the retailer buys the products from the competitive manufacturers and then resells them to customers. Recently, the increasing prevalence of online retailing has given rise to a novel agency pricing model; that is, the manufacturers sell their products directly to customers on the retailer’s platform, and the retailer charges a commission fee for each sale. Meanwhile, customer loyalty is an important determinant of long-term business success for the retail platform. Considering the customer with loyalty, this paper investigates how the chosen pricing model (wholesale pricing model or agency pricing model) affects the online retailer’s profit, industry profit, consumer surplus, and social welfare. We find that the latter model always leads to a lower retail price and higher consumer surplus. More important, we also show that the industry profit and social welfare increase when the online retailer switches from the former model to the latter one. However, the online retailer’s profit critically depends on customer loyalty. Specifically, when customer loyalty is strong enough, the online retailer should adopt the agency pricing model. Otherwise, the wholesale pricing model dominates.

中文翻译：

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在线零售平台上的批发定价或代理定价：客户忠诚度的影响

摘要 传统上，在线零售商采用批发定价模式与异构制造商合作，即零售商从竞争制造商那里购买产品，然后再转售给客户。最近，网络零售的日益盛行催生了一种新颖的代理定价模式；即制造商在零售商的平台上直接向客户销售产品，零售商对每笔销售收取佣金。同时，客户忠诚度是零售平台长期业务成功的重要决定因素。考虑到具有忠诚度的顾客，本文研究了所选择的定价模型（批发定价模型或代理定价模型）如何影响在线零售商的利润、行业利润、消费者剩余和社会福利。我们发现后一种模型总是导致较低的零售价格和较高的消费者剩余。更重要的是，我们还表明，当在线零售商从前一种模式转向后一种模式时，行业利润和社会福利会增加。然而，在线零售商的利润关键取决于客户忠诚度。具体而言，当客户忠诚度足够强时，在线零售商应采用代理定价模式。否则，批发定价模型占主导地位。在线零售商应采用代理定价模式。否则，批发定价模型占主导地位。在线零售商应采用代理定价模式。否则，批发定价模型占主导地位。