Abstract:

The rapid development of Internet technology has driven the rise of the online retail market. Consumer shopping behavior and habits have undergone significant changes. Using Internet credit payments， consumers with high expectations for products but limited budgets can immediately purchase their favorite products. By providing Internet credit payments， online retailers attract potential consumers with early consumption needs to increase sales and seize market share in financial services. More and more retailers are launching Internet credit payments to activate the potential of consumer demand. Considering consumer behavior， the impact of Internet credit payments provided by retailers on their optimal order quantity and expected profit is investigated. Firstly， based on consumers' budgets and expectations， the probabilities of consumers immediately purchasing goods and purchasing goods through Internet credit payments are constructed. Considering the stochastic conditions of market demand， profit functions are constructed under two scenarios： retailers providing Internet credit payment products and not providing them. The optimal order quantity of retailers in two scenarios is calculated. Secondly， sensitivity analysis is applied to investigate the effects of market default rate， consumer expectations and budgets， and daily service rates on the optimal order quantity and expected profit of retailers. The results indicate that retailers need to comprehensively consider the optimal order quantity and expected profit when pricing goods， as the retail price under the optimal order quantity may not necessarily lead to the maximum expected profit. When providing Internet credit payments， retailers should not design the installment payment period too short. In addition， there are critical thresholds for daily service rates and penalty rates. When it exceeds the threshold， retailers can earn more profits by providing Internet credit payments. Finally， JD Baitiao is used as an example to compare and analyze the optimal order quantity and expected profit under two scenarios： not providing and providing Internet credit payment. A theoretical basis is provided for exploring the impact of Internet credit payments on retailers' optimal inventory decisions.

Key words: Internet credit payment, consumer behavior, stochastic market demand, optimal order quantity, expected profit