This study empirically investigates whether and to what extent suppliers’ decisions to start selling directly to end-consumers provoke reactions in the ordering strategy of downstream channel partners, such as independent multibrand retailers. Using a multimethod approach that combines transactional data, survey data, and a scenario-based experiment, the authors demonstrate that retailers tend to exit these relationships after a direct channel introduction, as exhibited by their strategic decisions to order fewer distinct SKUs, accompanied by higher wholesale prices per unit. On average, retailers decrease the number of distinct SKUs ordered by 15 (or 18.75%) and pay a higher average wholesale price by €.79 (or 20.84%). Yet the responses also differ across retailers, reflecting moderating impacts of retailer power, expertise, and relationship quality. Retailer power emerges as a robust moderating factor, with more powerful retailers indicating a lower propensity to exit the relationship. Expertise and relationship quality have more nuanced influences on retailers’ ordering strategies. The multimethod approach allows to reveal the underlying mechanisms of these moderating effects, such that both rational (coercive power and switching costs) and emotional (conflict and confidence) considerations are in play.

中文翻译：

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EXPRESS：供应商直接采购时零售商如何改变订购策略


本研究实证调查了供应商开始直接向最终消费者销售的决定是否以及在多大程度上引起了下游渠道合作伙伴（例如独立多品牌零售商）的订购策略的反应。作者使用结合交易数据、调查数据和基于场景的实验的多方法方法，证明零售商在引入直接渠道后往往会退出这些关系，正如他们的战略决策所表明的那样，订购更少的不同 SKU，同时提高价格。每单位的批发价格。平均而言，零售商将订购的不同 SKU 数量减少 15 个（或 18.75%），并支付更高的平均批发价 0.79 欧元（或 20.84%）。然而，不同零售商的反应也有所不同，反映出零售商实力、专业知识和关系质量的调节影响。零售商实力成为一个强有力的调节因素，实力越强的零售商表明退出关系的倾向越低。专业知识和关系质量对零售商的订购策略有更微妙的影响。多方法方法可以揭示这些调节效应的潜在机制，使得理性（强制力和转换成本）和情感（冲突和信心）考虑都在发挥作用。