Price and Service Competition in the Supply Chain with both Pure Play Internet and Strong Bricks-and-Mortar Retailers

In the traditional retail industry, some supermarket chains and department stores have been maintaining strong positions as the market comes to maturity. They can make use of the strong positions to squeeze their suppliers and obtain extra earnings. This situation may be challenged by the rapid development of e-commerce. Consumers’ purchase habits have been changing and many manufacturers are starting to sell goods through electronic retailers, in addition to their traditional distribution channels. This paper analyzes price and service competition in the dual-channel supply chain with both pure play Internet and strong bricks-and mortar retailers, investigates the influence of retailer power and proposes some competitive strategies for traditional retailer under e-commerce environment. The demand model is proposed based on consumer utility theory, and Stackelberg theory is used to analyze the game process in which the manufacturer is the leader and the two retailers, acting simultaneously, are the followers. The equilibrium price and service decisions of the supply chain members are reached. The analysis of the competitive strategy is divided into two parts. Firstly, the influence of the retailer power on members of the supply chain is examined. We find that although the traditional retailer can use its power to depress the wholesale price, this strategy cannot help the traditional retailer increase its profit. Secondly, other competitive strategies of the traditional retailer are analyzed and the traditional retailer is found to be able to improve its operating status through adjusting prices and services via specific actions.