BUYER PROFITABILITY AND COST IN A SUPPLY CHAIN
Academic literature and business practice are directing increased attention to the importance of creating value in buyer-supplier relationships. One method for creating value is to reduce costs in commercial exchange;another is to increase the profitability. The results indicate that increased communication frequency, different forms of supplier accommodation, product quality, and the geographic closeness of the suppliers facilities to the customers buying location lower customer firm costs. In addition, customer firms intend to increase purchases from suppliers that provide value by lowering each of these costs. Stimulating current profitability at the individual customer level is important to distinguish the more profitable customers from the less profitable ones. This is also a first step in developing estimates of customerslifetime values. The authors show how heterogeneity in customer purchasing characteristics leads to important profit implications and illustrate the implementation of the methodology using data from a large distributor that suppliers to grocery and other retail businesses.
CustomertProfitability Cost Supply chain
Wang Xiaoning
The Economic and Finance Institute of Xian Jiaotong University International Business School of Shannxi Normal University
国际会议
The Second China and U.S. Advanced Workshop in Electronic Commerce 2004
成都
英文
447-450
2004-06-20（万方平台首次上网日期，不代表论文的发表时间）