Contract selection for fresh produce suppliers cooperating with a platform under a markdown-pricing policy
研究了新鲜农产品供应商与平台合作时，在降价政策下选择批发价合同还是寄售收益分享合同，分析了腐败率和降价时间对利润的影响，发现寄售合同对供应商总是有利但对平台不一定。
Since some platforms such as Amazon, and JD.com are expanding their business into the fresh produce market, traditional fresh produce suppliers are seeking to cooperate with them. However, markdown-pricing policies caused by the interaction between the time-varying quality of fresh produce and the time-varying price strongly influence the choice of the cooperation mode in current research. A wholesale price contract (WPC) and a consignment revenue-sharing contract (CRSC) are two common modes for cooperation between the fresh produce supplier and the platform. Accordingly, the markdown-pricing policies for fresh produce under these two contracts are analysed. The impacts of the deterioration rate and the price markdown time on profit and the pricing of the supplier and the platform are also discussed. Finally, the contracting strategy of the supplier and the contracting preference of the platform are examined. The results show that a CRSC is always beneficial for the supplier but not for the platform: if the price-sensitivity increase in the second period is small, then the platform is worse off under a CRSC when the price markdown time is moderate or the market size is small. However, the platform prefers a CRSC due to the high deterioration rate of fresh produce.