Research on financing strategies of retailers with capital constraints under the effect of showrooms

Abstract

A supply chain made up of a financially constrained retailer and a well-financed manufacturer is constructed considering the showroom effect. The financing strategy choice of the retailer and the operational decisions of the supply chain members are investigated, in which the retailer can solve the capital constraint problem through a single financing strategy (ML and BL) and a combined financing strategy (MBL and BTL). Meanwhile, the impact of the showroom effect on the optimal decision and profit of supply chain members under different financing strategies and the optimal financing strategy decision is analyzed by numerical examples. The study shows that: (1) the increasing showroom effect has not inhibited retailers' enthusiasm to offer showroom services; on the contrary, it has prompted them to improve the level of showroom services. (2) The price of the products grows with the increases in the showroom effect, but the sales price of the online channel is more greatly affected. In addition, the showroom effect has a greater impact on the sales prices of online and offline channels and wholesale prices under the BL strategy than in other financing strategies. (3) When the showroom effect is small, the optimal strategy for retailers is to choose the ML strategy or the MBL strategy, while the BTL strategy is superior to the MBL strategy only when the equity financing ratio is very small. However, where the showroom effect exceeds a certain threshold, the BL strategy is the optimal funding strategy for retailers. (4) When the bank loan rate is too high, the ML and MBL strategies are better if the retailer's initial capital level is not too low.