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Managing Channel Profits When Retailers Have Profitable Outside Options

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  • Roman Inderst

    (University of Frankfurt, 60323 Frankfurt, Germany)

  • Greg Shaffer

    (Simon Business School, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 14627)

Abstract

The channel-coordination literature typically focuses on how a supplier can overcome channel inefficiencies stemming from misaligned pricing incentives. In contrast, we show that when an incumbent supplier faces competition from other suppliers to supply the downstream firms, it may want to create inefficiencies. Our analysis offers useful prescriptions for how incumbent suppliers should react to competitive threats by smaller competitors, how manufacturers should react to powerful retailers who can produce their own private-label brands, and how upstream firms should optimally treat downstream firms who may have different marginal costs of distribution. Our analysis also explains why wholesale prices and thus final-goods prices would be expected to decrease when there is an increase in upstream or downstream competition.

Suggested Citation

  • Roman Inderst & Greg Shaffer, 2019. "Managing Channel Profits When Retailers Have Profitable Outside Options," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(2), pages 642-659, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:65:y:2019:i:2:p:642-659
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2953
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    2. Quan Zheng & Xiajun Amy Pan & Asoo J. Vakharia, 2020. "Common Retailer Channel Revisited: The Role of Supply Network Size," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(9), pages 2175-2181, September.
    3. Zhang, Xuefeng & Li, Guo & Liu, Mengqi & Sethi, Suresh P., 2021. "Online platform service investment: A bane or a boon for supplier encroachment," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).
    4. Inderst, Roman & Obradovits, Martin, 2021. "Loss Leading as a Threat to Brands," EconStor Preprints 253667, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    5. Evensen, Charlotte B. & Foros, Øystein & Haugen, Atle & Kind, Hans Jarle, 2021. "Size-based input price discrimination under endogenous inside options," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 6/2021, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    6. Joe Perkins & Shiva Shekhar, 2024. "Horizontal Mergers and Supplier Power," Review of Industrial Organization, Springer;The Industrial Organization Society, vol. 64(4), pages 533-548, June.
    7. Inderst, Roman & Obradovits, Martin, 2020. "Why Brand Manufacturers Should Take Loss Leading Seriously," EconStor Preprints 253663, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    8. QU, Zhan & RAFF, Horst, 2023. "Two-part tariffs, inventory stockpiling, and the bullwhip effect," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(1), pages 201-214.

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