竞争制造商的渠道结构设计与顾客退货管理研究

Managing and reducing customer returns effectively becomes a critical and practical issue for the sellers in the competitive market. This will bring the new challenge and opportunity for competing manufacturers’ design of channel structures. Charging the restocking fee, providing the retail service, and improving the product quality are common approaches to reduce customer returns. Introducing these three approaches that can reduce customer returns, and using the theories of customer utility, game, and supply chain contract, this research proposal aims to develop analytical models to systematically examine forward (distribution channel strategies) and backward (production outsourcing strategies) channel structure designs for competing manufacturers. Firstly, we will examine how customer returns and restocking fees affect manufacturers’ distribution channel decisions and how manufacturers’ distribution channel strategies affect restocking fee decisions. Secondly, we will examine how customer returns and retail service investments affect manufacturers’ distribution channel decisions and how manufacturers’ distribution channel strategies affect retail service level decisions. Finally, we will examine how customer returns and quality improvement investments affect manufacturers’ production outsourcing decisions and how manufacturers’ production outsourcing strategies affect quality improvement level decisions. The proposed research will not only theoretically contribute to the literature on supply chain channel management and customer returns management, but also provide the implications and supports for firms’ management in designing channel structures and taking measurements to reduce customer returns.

如何有效的管理和减少顾客退货已成为零售市场中企业亟需解决的现实问题，这将为竞争制造商设计渠道结构带来新的挑战和机遇。本项目引入退货重置费、零售服务和产品质量改进三种可以减少退货的措施，运用顾客效用理论、博弈理论和供应链契约理论，借助数理推演和数值仿真相结合的研究手段，将系统深入的研究竞争制造商的前向(分销渠道策略)和后向(生产外包策略)渠道结构设计。首先，引入退货重置费，研究竞争制造商的分销渠道选择策略和最优的退货重置费决策；然后，引入零售服务投资，研究竞争制造商的分销渠道选择策略和最优的零售服务水平决策；最后，引入产品质量改进投资，研究竞争制造商的生产外包策略决策和最优的质量改进水平决策。本项目的研究不仅能促进供应链渠道管理和顾客退货管理理论的发展，还能为企业管理者设计渠道结构和制定措施减少顾客退货提供支持。

顾客退货是零售市场中不容忽视的问题，如何管理顾客退货将为制造商进行渠道结构设计带来新的机遇和挑战。项目围绕竞争环境下制造商的渠道结构设计与顾客退货管理问题开展了研究工作。通过构建博弈模型，重点探索了制造商的前向渠道结构设计（分销渠道策略）、后向渠道结构设计（生产外包/采购策略）、前向与后向渠道结构设计互动三个方面的内容，并主要研究了顾客退货、零售服务、产品质量竞争、价格竞争等几方面关键因素对制造商渠道结构设计的影响，取得了丰富的原创性成果。从学术研究层面讲，研究成果丰富和拓展了供应链渠道管理、顾客退货管理及产品定价等领域研究的理论体系。从实践价值层面讲，研究成果可为竞争环境下制造商设计前向和后向渠道结构、管理顾客退货、进行产品最优定价及产品质量改进等决策提供重要的参考价值与理论支持。. 在基金支持下，项目负责人以第一/通讯作者在运作管理领域国际权威/主流SCI/SSCI期刊发表论文5篇；以第一作者开发的教学案例被全球顶尖案例库毅伟案例库收录2篇。项目负责人前往加拿大Wilfrid Laurier University进行了为期1年的博士后研究工作。培养硕士毕业生1人，在读硕士6人（2023年6即将毕业2人）。