IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/elcore/v25y2025i1d10.1007_s10660-023-09689-2.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Returns handling in e-commerce: How to avoid demand negativity in supply chain contracts with returns?

Author

Listed:
  • Milena Bieniek

    (Maria Curie-Sklodowska University)

Abstract

E-commerce constitutes a system for the online purchase and sale of services and commodities. This theoretical article investigates the manufacturer handling strategy which occurs in online shopping, in a centralized or decentralized channel under the wholesale price contract. The retailer’s optimal order quantity, price, and the manufacturer’s wholesale price are derived assuming additive uncertainty in demand. The possibility of negative demand realizations, which may occur in adverse market circumstances, is verified in the investigated models. It was proved that the imposition of the non-negativity prerequisite on demand is vital to obtain complete results. The non-negativity constraint in this study incorporates consumer’s returns handling costs which is different than the previously used constraint. As an extension of the additive case, the model with iso-elastic demand is discussed. The theoretical analysis is enriched with numerical examples.

Suggested Citation

  • Milena Bieniek, 2025. "Returns handling in e-commerce: How to avoid demand negativity in supply chain contracts with returns?," Electronic Commerce Research, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 271-294, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:elcore:v:25:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10660-023-09689-2
    DOI: 10.1007/s10660-023-09689-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10660-023-09689-2
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10660-023-09689-2?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.

    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:spr:elcore:v:25:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1007_s10660-023-09689-2. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.