Pricing and Financing Strategies in a Dual-Channel Low-Carbon Supply Chain for Bilateral Capital-Constrained Retailers

Abstract

In the context of low-carbon economy, financial constraints are prevalent among both upstream and downstream enterprises, exacerbated by the trend of online retailers extending into offline physical stores. This study first proposes and evaluates three financing combination models: “bank lending + advance payment,” (in short, AF), “bank lending + delayed payment,” (in short, DF), and “bilateral bank lending.” (in short, TF). It then examines the retailer’s dual-channel supply chain pricing and financing decision-making models under unified pricing strategy and independent self-pricing strategy respectively. The evaluation results indicate that among various financing models, the independent self-pricing strategy has the potential to enhance the retailer's profitability, outperforming the unified pricing strategy. In addition, when channel preference is significant, the retailer should prioritize the independent self-pricing strategy. A comparison of the optimal decisions across the three financing combination models indicates that both the cost coefficient of carbon emission reduction and the loan interest rate exert a limiting influence on the decision-making and income of all supply chain parties. Furthermore, the DF model emerges as a financing equilibrium strategy within the supply chain, with a shift to the AF model being considered only when the manufacturer’s loan interest rate is relatively high.