Third-party Stores Research Articles

Logistics mode strategy of firms selling fresh products on e-commerce platforms with private brand introduction

The popularity of online shopping has enticed many firms selling fresh products to establish third-party stores on e-commerce platforms. For those firms. adopting which logistics mode between platform logistics and third-party logistics (TPL) for their third-party stores is the real decision problem. Moreover, many platforms have introduced their private brands of fresh products to occupy more make share, which will inevitably affect firms' operation strategies. To explore the optimal logistics mode strategy of firms selling fresh products on platforms and the impacts of platform private brand introduction on those firms' operation strategies, four theoretical models are constructed. Main results show that regardless of whether platforms have introduced their private brands of fresh products or not, the optimal logistics mode strategy depends on the sizes of the platform logistics cost and the service level difference between platform logistics and TPL. Furthermore, introducing platform private brands of fresh products will increase firms' willingness to adopt TPL for their third-party stores on platforms. These main results are robust considering the existence of fresh product supplier and different consumer's sensitivity to freshness-keeping efforts.

Optimal channel selection of remanufacturing firms with considering asymmetric information in platform economy

With the rapid development of e-commerce platforms, and considering that online return rate is relatively high and third-party stores on e-commerce platforms need to adopt third-party logistics, thus remanufacturing firms face the challenge of deciding whether to enter e-commerce platforms. To address this challenge, our paper considers a remanufacturing firm, an e-commerce platform, and a third-party logistics provider. Moreover, according to whether the remanufacturing firm enters the platform and whether the information is symmetrical, we develop three theoretical models: Model NP (the firm doesn’t enter platform), Model YP (the firm enters platform with symmetric information) and Model YA (the firm enters platform with asymmetric information). Some main insights are obtained. We find that whether remanufacturing firms should enter the platform depends not only on the annual service fee charged by the platform but also on the carbon tax price set by the government. Interestingly, improved consumers’ satisfaction with online remanufactured products is not necessarily conducive to enhancing the willingness of remanufacturing firms to enter e-commerce platforms. Finally, we find that when the production quantity constraint of the remanufactured products is not binding, if the actual production cost of remanufactured products is high and consumers’ satisfaction with offline remanufactured products is relatively low, information disclosure will benefit remanufacturing firms, however, when the production quantity constraint of the remanufactured products is binding, information disclosure has no impact on the remanufacturing firms’ profits and operational decisions.

Impact of Platform Owner’s Entry on Third-Party Stores

One important decision faced by the owners of online marketplaces is whether they should enter the market and sell products directly to customers. In this study, we provide data-driven insights to managers by empirically investigating the impact of a platform owner’s entry on the demand of third-party stores and their potential reactions using transaction level data from a large e-commerce platform. Contrary to previous studies in mobile app platforms, our study shows that the demand of competing third-party stores decreases with the entry of the platform, especially for large third-party stores. We further show that the demand reduction is significant only in the offline channel and the reduction results from third-party stores’ defensive strategy to divert their offline customers away from the platform (i.e., disintermediation). Our findings indicate that platforms should carefully evaluate the nature of their markets before entering the market to compete with complementors, because they may lead third-party sellers to disintermediate from the platform. On the other hand, from the perspective of third-party sellers, disintermediation might be an overreaction to the entry of the platform, because their online demand is not significantly affected by platform entry based on our analyses.

Android application security: detecting Android malware and evaluating anti-malware software

Mobile devices have become widespread computing technology, people prefer to use than desktop devices. These connected devices and their features like an exchange of data, video calling etc. have made our lives simple but, this has also increased data security concerns. At present, Google's Android is dominating the market share of mobile devices; as a result, it has become a big target for malware writers. Android users can download applications from official or third-party stores. Google implements various security policies to ensure secure distribution of applications but third-party application stores have less efficient or no such policies. This makes such markets more attractive for malware writers. This paper investigates Android application security by analysing 1,946 free most downloaded Android applications in the year 2016: 1,300 from Google Play Store and 646 from third-party Android applications. 100 samples from 33 different malware families (with variants) prominent in the Android market during January 2016 to April 2016 were also collected that acted as a template for malware detection. Further, based on detected malware samples, an evaluation-based study on ten anti-malware applications is performed to identify how well they protect users from malware.

Android application security: detecting Android malware and evaluating anti-malware software

Mobile devices have become widespread computing technology, people prefer to use than desktop devices. These connected devices and their features like an exchange of data, video calling etc. have made our lives simple but, this has also increased data security concerns. At present, Google's Android is dominating the market share of mobile devices; as a result, it has become a big target for malware writers. Android users can download applications from official or third-party stores. Google implements various security policies to ensure secure distribution of applications but third-party application stores have less efficient or no such policies. This makes such markets more attractive for malware writers. This paper investigates Android application security by analysing 1,946 free most downloaded Android applications in the year 2016: 1,300 from Google Play Store and 646 from third-party Android applications. 100 samples from 33 different malware families (with variants) prominent in the Android market during January 2016 to April 2016 were also collected that acted as a template for malware detection. Further, based on detected malware samples, an evaluation-based study on ten anti-malware applications is performed to identify how well they protect users from malware.

Optimal trade-in strategy of business-to-consumer platform with dual-format retailing model

B2C platforms are increasingly implementing trade-in programs to boost sales. Most of these platforms have adopted dual-format retailing model including both self-run stores and third-party stores. Under trade-in program framework, B2C platforms will determine the optimal trade-in rebate, and whether to offer the rebate to consumers with gift card (GC) or cash coupon (CC). GC can only be used in self-run stores, while CC can be used in both stores. To entice more consumers to trade-in products, platforms may launch trade-in efforts in the market. To address such decision-making challenges, we consider a B2C platform who owns a self-run store and hosts a third-party store, and examine the optimal trade-in strategy for the platform by developing four theoretical models. We first present two models without considering trade-in efforts, i.e., one model regarding GC payment, and one model regarding CC payment, and then extend them by taking trade-in efforts into consideration. Some interesting findings and insights are achieved. In particular, we find that both GC and CC do not always benefit the platform. Interestingly, offering high quality and low selling price for products in both the self-run store and the third-party store are also not always beneficial to the platform. So is the competition between both stores. Launching trade-in efforts may lead to a lower trade-in rebate but a higher profit for the platform. A counterintuitive finding is obtained that a higher gift card redemption rate is not beneficial to the platform, and vice versa.

NEGÓCIOS DE APOIO EM SUPERMERCADOS: ANÁLISE SOB A ÓTICA DOS SEUS PROPRIETÁRIOS

Na atualidade, além da comercialização de produtos, os Supermercados possibilitam a satisfação das pessoas. Logo, é algo bastante comum encontrar comércios e serviços de terceiros anexados a esses. Neste cenário, este estudo objetiva analisar como é realizada, por uma rede supermercadista catarinense, a gestão administrativa desses comércios e serviços, também denominados Negócios de Apoio. A pesquisa contou com a participação de uma rede que possui 12 estabelecimentos no estado de Santa Catarina, que atende a 57.000 clientes por dia, contemplando mais de 170 Negócios de Apoio. Assim, os pesquisadores aplicaram um questionário com 130 proprietários desses Negócios, nas seguintes cidades catarinenses: Florianópolis, São José, Criciúma, Palhoça, Blumenau e Joinville. Após os dados coletados, evidenciou-se que não existe uma administração profissionalizada para essa nova realidade dos autosserviços. Dessa forma, este artigo de cunho empírico-exploratório contribui com o início de uma teoria sobre a gestão administrativa para esses negócios. Finaliza-se esse trabalho com uma proposta de gestão administrativa que contemple os anseios dos proprietários dos comércios e serviços instalados em supermercados.