关键词: 电子商务, 服务模式选择, 博弈论, 定价策略

Abstract: With the rapid development of e-commerce, the ability to provide high-quality customer service has been proved critical for online retailers to gain competitive advantage. This article studies the selection strategies of service channel for e-commerce platforms and online retailers. A quantitative model is built to obtain the optimal solutions by analyzing four alternative service channels: online retailer providing service directly (channel A), online retailer outsourcing service to a third party (channel B), platform providing service directly (channel C) and platform outsourcing service to a third party (channel D). As is shown by the results, channel C achieves the highest service level and profit, while channel A and B offers customers the lowest price, which can lead to the following observations: The service level is reduced by decentralized service channel with the same service cost. Considering the service cost is different among these parties, e-commerce platforms and online retailers tend to provide services on their own to achieve maximum service level when the cost of service is relatively low but will outsource the service to a third party when the cost of service is relatively high. In addition, it is found that within channel A and B, the proportion of commission charged by the platform will decrease with the increase of sensitive coefficient of service towards to demand, but the result is reversed in channel C and D.

Key words: electronic commerce, service channel selection, game theory, pricing strategy