How Do Delivery Variety Decisions Contribute to Sales? An Empirical Study on Demand and Supply Integration
研究配送方式多样性（如卡车运输方式数量）对销售的影响，发现通过提高订单满足率间接提升销售，且订单方式多样性会增强这一效果。
ABSTRACT This study empirically assesses the value of decisions on offering delivery variety (the number of different methods of truck transport used to deliver products to buyers). Rooted in the literature on demand and supply integration, we develop the relationship between delivery variety decisions and sales through the mediating role of unit fill rate. We find that a decision to increase delivery variety will indirectly improve sales through the mediating role of the fill rate. Furthermore, our results suggest that decisions on order variety (the number of ordering methods offered to buyers) moderates this mediation effect. A decision to increase order variety enhances the benefits of delivery variety. We estimate our models using archival data including deliveries, order fulfillment, sales records, and other operational data over three years. When the number of delivery methods increases from 1 to 3, fill rates increase by 1.22% and sales increase by 15.39%, and when the number of order methods increases from 1 to 4, the impact of delivery variety on fill rates increases by an additional 0.39% and on sales by an additional 4.68%. These findings provide empirical support for the integration of demand and supply associated with decision making in supply chains and underscore the need for top management to consider the complementary benefits of delivery variety and order variety on order fulfillment and sales.