Abstract:

Preferential strategy is one of the important ways for firms to promote the growth of online retail. There are two kinds of preferential strategies implemented by third-party sellers and platforms， as well as two kinds of preferential forms： proportional discount and amount discount. This study aims to answer the following research questions： how do different preferential strategies and different preferential forms affect the firms’ price decision-making， preferential strategies and profits. Does preferential policy always benefit consumers？ Is preferential strategy implemented by the platform always beneficial to third party sellers？By comparing the equilibrium solutions of the four preferential modes， the impact of different preferential strategy implementation modes and market characteristics on the firms’ decision-making and profit is analyzed. In addition， by comparing the consumer surplus in different situations， the impact of the implementation of preferential policies on consumers is discussed.The results show that　first of all， consumers can not always enjoy the real preferential price benefits， and the actual price paid by customers after the implementation of preferential strategy may be higher than that when the preferential strategy is not implemented. When the seller implements the preferential policy alone or in collaboration with the platform， the consumer can enjoy the price discount， but when the preferential policy is implemented by the platform， the consumer can not always enjoy the preferential price. Second， firms should adjust the price preference strategy according to the demand characteristics of the market to achieve higher profits. When consumers' valuation differentiation is small in the market， sellers only need to put in small coupons to promote undervalued customers to buy， and they can ensure their marginal revenue. When the demand of undervalued customers is relatively high， the platform creates a kind of cheap psychology to customers by setting a larger preferential force， so as to attract more undervalued customers to buy. Third， compared with the unified pricing model， the implementation of preferential policies on the platform will not always improve the seller's profit， but will interfere with the seller's decision-making and damage their interests under certain conditions. In addition， the platform is not always motivated to implement preferential policies， and the optimal preferential policy mode of the platform depends on the characteristics of market demand. Compared with the unified pricing model， the preferential strategy implemented by the seller can always improve the platform profit， and is the best choice for the platform under certain conditions.

Key words: online platform-based supply chain, coupon strategy, pricing