Feng Lin, Skouri Konstantina, Wang Wan-Chih, Teng Jinn-Tsair
School of Economics and Management, Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, 610031 China.
Department of Mathematics, University of Ioannina, 45 110 Ioannina, Greece.
Ann Oper Res. 2022;315(2):1-22. doi: 10.1007/s10479-020-03761-y. Epub 2020 Aug 25.
Although research on pricing and lot-sizing decisions concerning payment types has been extensive, almost all of it has been done from the buyer's perspective. In this study, we incorporate the following relevant and essential facts. If a seller allows a buyer to pay on credit, it increases sales volume. But if a seller asks a buyer for an advance payment, it decreases sales volume. Sometimes, a seller offers a buyer a price discount for an advance payment to increase sales and profitability. Asking a buyer for an advance payment bears interest earned and has no default risk. If a seller offers a buyer the opportunity to pay on credit, then a longer credit period may mean a higher the sales volume, but the default risk is higher, too. The seller wants to set an optimal selling price, replenishment time, and payment method simultaneously so that the profit per unit time is maximized. To achieve this, we develop and compare the seller's profit per unit time under each of three payment methods-advance, cash and credit. Through numerical analyses, the following managerial insights are highlighted: (1) Under certain conditions, a specific payment type obtains the seller's highest profit among all three payment types. (2) If advance payment is required, then it is critically important for a seller to offer a price discount. (3) An advance payment generates more profit than a credit payment provided that sales volume from a credit payment to an advance payment declines insignificantly and vice versa.
尽管关于支付方式的定价和批量决策的研究已经很广泛，但几乎所有研究都是从买方的角度进行的。在本研究中，我们纳入了以下相关且重要的事实。如果卖方允许买方赊购，那么销售量会增加。但如果卖方要求买方预付款，那么销售量会减少。有时，卖方会为预付款向买方提供价格折扣，以增加销售额和盈利能力。要求买方预付款会产生利息收入且没有违约风险。如果卖方为买方提供赊购机会，那么较长的信用期可能意味着较高的销售量，但违约风险也更高。卖方希望同时设定最优销售价格、补货时间和支付方式，以使单位时间利润最大化。为实现这一目标，我们计算并比较了三种支付方式（预付款、现金和赊购）下卖方的单位时间利润。通过数值分析，突出了以下管理见解：（1）在某些条件下，特定的支付方式在所有三种支付方式中能为卖方带来最高利润。（2）如果要求预付款，那么对卖方来说提供价格折扣至关重要。（3）如果从赊购改为预付款时销售量下降不显著，那么预付款比赊购能产生更多利润，反之亦然。
