考虑供应链中产品差异和竞争的运营策略研究

In the era of “new retail”, the emerging new formats and new models have brought both opportunities and challenges to product structure optimization. New products are being developed faster and faster, and consumer demand becomes more personalized and diverse. How to differentiate products and establish competitive advantage effectively have become important issues for retail firms. We propose to study the impact of the differences and competitive characteristics of private brands and brand variants on firms’ purchasing, product, pricing and place strategies, through which firms can exploit the value-generation potential of the retail industry. Our research agenda covers: (1) developing a game-theoretic model that allows for vertical (quality) differentiation and examining the optimal private label sourcing strategy for the retailer, (2) characterizing the optimal private label encroachment strategy, and (3) developing a multi-variant model to study the optimal channel structure decision for a manufacturer who sells branded variants in a competing setting. Key deliverables of this project will include (1) several modeling tools and (2) empirical/experimental evidences for analyzing retailing and operations strategies for firms, with (3) insights on the evolution of product differentiation and consumer behaviors which are of paramount importance for retail firms. We also schedule to testify our theoretical findings with field studies, case studies, and laboratory experiments, through which our findings may shed lights on the understanding of product differentiation, competition and consumer behaviors in retail industry for both academia and practitioners.

零售行业新业态和新模式的不断涌现，给产品结构优化带来了巨大的机遇和挑战。新产品开发越来越快，消费者需求更加个性化和多样化，如何有效地实现产品差异化并增强竞争优势，成为我国零售行业各企业面临的重要课题。本项目拟从供应链管理的视角出发，挖掘自有品牌和品牌变体产品差异和竞争特性对企业采购、产品、价格和渠道等策略的影响，构建消费者选择和购买行为模型，探索企业运营所应遵循的基本规律和管理模式。具体而言，本项目首先针对产品的纵向差异和竞争的影响，构建零售商的自有品牌采购策略模型；在此基础上，探索自有品牌产品引入的最优策略；最后，着眼于产品横向差异和竞争影响，探究制造商的品牌变体产品渠道策略模型。希望通过本研究，形成一组关于自有品牌和品牌变体产品差异化和竞争策略的基本理论成果，并通过企业调研、行为实验和实证分析等方式进行验证和完善，力争为我国零售行业的新机遇和新发展提供一些基本的理论依据和决策参考。

零售行业新业态和新模式的不断涌现，给产品结构优化带来了巨大的机遇和挑战。新产品开发越来越快，消费者需求更加个性化和多样化，如何有效地实现产品差异化并增强竞争优势，成为我国零售行业各企业面临的重要课题。本项目从供应链管理和电子商务平台的视角出发，通过挖掘自有品牌和品牌变体产品差异和竞争特性对企业采购、产品、价格和渠道等策略的影响，构建了消费者选择和购买行为模型，给出了企业运营所应遵循的基本规律和管理模式。具体而言，本项目首先给出了电商平台产品排序问题的一些算法设计，然后针对产品的纵向差异和竞争的影响，构建零售商的自有品牌采购策略模型；在此基础上，探索了零售商自有品牌产品引入的最优策略；最后，着眼于产品横向差异和竞争影响，探究了制造商的品牌变体产品渠道策略模型。本项目最终形成了一组关于产品差异化和竞争策略的基本理论成果，并通过企业调研、行为实验和实证分析等方式进行了验证和完善，为我国零售行业的发展提供了一些重要的理论依据和决策参考。