Decision and coordination of fresh produce three-layer e-commerce supply chain: A new framework

Abstract

This paper considers a fresh produce three-layer e-commerce supply chain consisting of a producer, a third-party logistics service provider, and a fresh produce e-commerce enterprise in a new framework. The market demand for the fresh produce is affected by the safety traceability system availability, the freshness level, the unit online selling price, and the random factor. We develop the game models under different supply chain decision scenarios. Two different types of contracts, namely, unilateral cost-sharing and revenue-sharing contract, and consolidated rebate and revenue-sharing contract are proposed to facilitate coordination of the supply chain. The impact of the changes of market preferences on the supply chain decisions, the supply chain profits, and the contract policies implementation is examined. The theoretical derivations and results are illustrated with numerical examples. While enriching the relevant literature, this paper also provides a practical guidance for the production, operation, and sales of the fresh produce e-commerce supply chain.