IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v257y2023ics0925527322003425.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Service provision on an aggregator platform with time-sensitive customers: Pricing strategies and coordination

Author

Listed:
  • Benioudakis, Myron
  • Zissis, Dimitris
  • Burnetas, Apostolos
  • Ioannou, George

Abstract

The increasing tendency to fulfill customer needs via virtual platforms has led to a rapid growth of sharing economy. This practice allows non-entrepreneurs to set up a business and firms to focus on their core operations by outsourcing tasks related to attracting, finding, contracting, and invoicing customers. Hence, potential entrepreneurs and firms face the question whether to penetrate a market directly or through a platform, and to what extent. In this work, we focus on providers who offer unique services and make a choice between enlisting in a demand aggregator’s platform and reaching the market directly; due to the unique services, we assume that the providers may have sufficient power to set the wholesale price that is paid to the platform. A game-theory model in a queueing framework is developed to address the questions of mode selection and pricing strategies. Such settings allow to include customers who are sensitive in delays in product/services delivery and exhibit strategic behavior. We show that under single-price contracts channel profits are adversely affected due to double marginalization. The latter effect can be mitigated by time-dependent pricing involving delay compensation or a revenue sharing contract, resulting in system coordination. We identify the equilibrium strategies and the provider’s optimal policy. We also derive insights on the combined effects of key parameters such as the market size, the direct cost of customer service, and the aggregator’s reservation level on the optimal pricing strategies, and quantify their impact.

Suggested Citation

  • Benioudakis, Myron & Zissis, Dimitris & Burnetas, Apostolos & Ioannou, George, 2023. "Service provision on an aggregator platform with time-sensitive customers: Pricing strategies and coordination," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:257:y:2023:i:c:s0925527322003425
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2022.108760
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925527322003425
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijpe.2022.108760?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gérard P. Cachon & Kaitlin M. Daniels & Ruben Lobel, 2017. "The Role of Surge Pricing on a Service Platform with Self-Scheduling Capacity," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 368-384, July.
    2. Ghosh, Souvik & Hassin, Refael, 2021. "Inefficiency in stochastic queueing systems with strategic customers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 295(1), pages 1-11.
    3. Li, Xiang & Li, Yongjian & Cai, Xiaoqiang, 2013. "Double marginalization and coordination in the supply chain with uncertain supply," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 226(2), pages 228-236.
    4. Terry A. Taylor, 2018. "On-Demand Service Platforms," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(4), pages 704-720, October.
    5. Liming Liu & Mahmut Parlar & Stuart X. Zhu, 2007. "Pricing and Lead Time Decisions in Decentralized Supply Chains," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(5), pages 713-725, May.
    6. Zhang Yu & Asif Razzaq & Abdul Rehman & Adeel Shah & Kiran Jameel & Rahul S Mor, 2022. "Disruption in global supply chain and socio-economic shocks: a lesson from COVID-19 for sustainable production and consumption," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 233-248, June.
    7. Choi, Tsan-Ming & Guo, Shu & Liu, Na & Shi, Xiutian, 2020. "Optimal pricing in on-demand-service-platform-operations with hired agents and risk-sensitive customers in the blockchain era," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 284(3), pages 1031-1042.
    8. Edelson, Noel M & Hildebrand, David K, 1975. "Congestion Tolls for Poisson Queuing Processes," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 43(1), pages 81-92, January.
    9. Reza Ahmadi & Foad Iravani & Hamed Mamani, 2017. "Supply Chain Coordination in the Presence of Gray Markets and Strategic Consumers," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 26(2), pages 252-272, February.
    10. Dimitris Zissis & George Ioannou & Apostolos Burnetas, 2020. "Coordinating Lot Sizing Decisions Under Bilateral Information Asymmetry," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(2), pages 371-387, February.
    11. Feng, Jiejian & Zhang, Michael, 2017. "Dynamic quotation of leadtime and price for a Make-To-Order system with multiple customer classes and perfect information on customer preferences," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 258(1), pages 334-342.
    12. Yen-Ting Lin & Ali K. Parlaktürk & Jayashankar M. Swaminathan, 2018. "Are Strategic Customers Bad for a Supply Chain?," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(3), pages 481-497, July.
    13. Philipp Afèche & Opher Baron & Yoav Kerner, 2013. "Pricing Time-Sensitive Services Based on Realized Performance," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 15(3), pages 492-506, July.
    14. Benioudakis, Myron & Burnetas, Apostolos & Ioannou, George, 2021. "Lead-time quotations in unobservable make-to-order systems with strategic customers: Risk aversion, load control and profit maximization," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 289(1), pages 165-176.
    15. Fernando Bernstein & Awi Federgruen, 2007. "Coordination Mechanisms for Supply Chains Under Price and Service Competition," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(3), pages 242-262, January.
    16. Iria, José & Soares, Filipe & Matos, Manuel, 2018. "Optimal supply and demand bidding strategy for an aggregator of small prosumers," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 658-669.
    17. Mohammadali Vosooghidizaji & Atour Taghipour & Béatrice Canel-Depitre, 2020. "Supply chain coordination under information asymmetry: a review," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(6), pages 1805-1834, March.
    18. Tianjun Feng & Z. Justin Ren & Fuqiang Zhang, 2019. "Service Outsourcing: Capacity, Quality and Correlated Costs," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(3), pages 682-699, March.
    19. Abdel-Malek, Layek & Kullpattaranirun, Tarathorn & Nanthavanij, Suebsak, 2005. "A framework for comparing outsourcing strategies in multi-layered supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(3), pages 318-328, September.
    20. Arshinder & Kanda, Arun & Deshmukh, S.G., 2008. "Supply chain coordination: Perspectives, empirical studies and research directions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 316-335, October.
    21. Jiaru Bai & Kut C. So & Christopher S. Tang & Xiqun (Michael) Chen & Hai Wang, 2019. "Coordinating Supply and Demand on an On-Demand Service Platform with Impatient Customers," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 21(3), pages 556-570, July.
    22. Carreiro, Andreia M. & Jorge, Humberto M. & Antunes, Carlos Henggeler, 2017. "Energy management systems aggregators: A literature survey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1160-1172.
    23. Noah Gans & Yong-Pin Zhou, 2007. "Call-Routing Schemes for Call-Center Outsourcing," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(1), pages 33-50, May.
    24. Viswanathan, S. & Wang, Qinan, 2003. "Discount pricing decisions in distribution channels with price-sensitive demand," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(3), pages 571-587, September.
    25. Gérard P. Cachon & Martin A. Lariviere, 2005. "Supply Chain Coordination with Revenue-Sharing Contracts: Strengths and Limitations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(1), pages 30-44, January.
    26. Tao Lu & Ying‐Ju Chen & Brian Tomlin & Yimin Wang, 2019. "Selling Co‐Products through a Distributor: The Impact on Product Line Design," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(4), pages 1010-1032, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Sun, Ke, 2024. "Strategic responses to the aggregator platform: Pricing and information sharing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Mingyang & Zhao, Daozhi & Gong, Yeming & Rekik, Yacine, 2022. "An on-demand service platform with self-scheduling capacity: Uniform versus multiplier-based pricing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    2. Zhong, Yuanguang & Yang, Tong & Cao, Bin & Cheng, T.C.E., 2022. "On-demand ride-hailing platforms in competition with the taxi industry: Pricing strategies and government supervision," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 243(C).
    3. Siqin, Tana & Choi, Tsan-Ming & Chung, Sai-Ho, 2022. "Optimal E-tailing channel structure and service contracting in the platform era," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Jacob, Jagan & Roet-Green, Ricky, 2021. "Ride solo or pool: Designing price-service menus for a ride-sharing platform," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 295(3), pages 1008-1024.
    5. He, Shan & Dai, Ying & Ma, Zu-Jun, 2023. "To offer or not to offer? The optimal value-insured strategy for crowdsourced delivery platforms," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    6. Biswas, Indranil & Avittathur, Balram, 2019. "Channel coordination using options contract under simultaneous price and inventory competition," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 45-60.
    7. Hu, Xinru & Zhou, Shuiyin & Luo, Xiaomeng & Li, Jianbin & Zhang, Chi, 2024. "Optimal pricing strategy of an on-demand platform with cross-regional passengers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    8. Zhong, Yuanguang & Lan, Yibo & Chen, Zhi & Yang, Jiazi, 2023. "On-demand ride-hailing platforms with heterogeneous quality-sensitive customers: Dedicated system or pooling system?," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 247-266.
    9. Faranak Emtehani & Nasim Nahavandi & Farimah Mokhatab Rafiei, 2021. "A joint inventory–finance model for coordinating a capital-constrained supply chain with financing limitations," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 1-39, December.
    10. Senlin Zhao & Qinghua Zhu, 2017. "Remanufacturing supply chain coordination under the stochastic remanufacturability rate and the random demand," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 257(1), pages 661-695, October.
    11. Yu, Jianjun & Fang, Yanli & Zhong, Yuanguang & Zhang, Xiong & Zhang, Ruijie, 2022. "Pricing and quality strategies for an on-demand housekeeping platform with customer-intensive services," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    12. Dimitris Zissis, 2023. "Information sharing through digitalisation in decentralised supply chains," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 327(2), pages 763-778, August.
    13. Benioudakis, Myron & Burnetas, Apostolos & Ioannou, George, 2021. "Lead-time quotations in unobservable make-to-order systems with strategic customers: Risk aversion, load control and profit maximization," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 289(1), pages 165-176.
    14. Ke, Jintao & Li, Xinwei & Yang, Hai & Yin, Yafeng, 2021. "Pareto-efficient solutions and regulations of congested ride-sourcing markets with heterogeneous demand and supply," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Zhang, Mengyao & Gou, Qinglong & Yu, Lili & Zhang, Juzhi, 2022. "Pricing decisions for a social comparison product supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    16. Chen, Junlin & Xiong, Jinghong & Chen, Guobao & Liu, Xin & Yan, Peng & Jiang, Hai, 2024. "Optimal instant discounts of multiple ride options at a ride-hailing aggregator," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 314(2), pages 718-734.
    17. Seyyed-Mahdi Hosseini-Motlagh & Mona Jazinaninejad & Nazanin Nami, 2023. "Recall management in pharmaceutical industry through supply chain coordination," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 324(1), pages 1183-1221, May.
    18. Yang, Jie & Zhao, Daozhi & Wang, Zeyu & Xu, Chunqiu, 2022. "Impact of regulation on on-demand ride-sharing service: Profit-based target vs demand-based target," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    19. Chang, Xiaoxiao & Zhao, Lindu, 2024. "Collaborative strategies in the product-sharing market considering manufacturer's capital entry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    20. Yunke Mai & Bin Hu & Saša Pekeč, 2023. "Courteous or Crude? Managing User Conduct to Improve On-Demand Service Platform Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(2), pages 996-1016, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:257:y:2023:i:c:s0925527322003425. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.