Research on Coordinated Return and Pricing Decisions in a Fresh Produce Dual-Channel Supply Chain Considering Consumers’ Strategic Stockpiling and Freshness-Keeping Effort

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-699-9_24How to use a DOI?

Keywords

fresh produce dual-channel supply chain; freshness-keeping effort; strategic stockpiling; return behavior; pricing strategy; supply chain coordination

Abstract

Amid global economic volatility, fresh produce dual-channel supply chains face challenges from consumers’ strategic stockpiling and return behaviors, alongside suppliers’ freshness-keeping and retailers’ service efforts. Existing studies rarely integrate all factors. This paper constructs a game-theoretic model incorporating stockpiling and returns, deriving demand and return functions. A two-period dynamic game analyzes decentralized decisions and two return-cost modes. A composite contract (revenue sharing, return-cost sharing, freshness-keeping cost sharing) achieves coordination.¹ Key findings: stockpiling shifts demand from Period 2 to Period 1; decentralized decisions cause efficiency losses; optimal return-cost mode depends on channel preference and freshness sensitivity; the composite contract enables perfect coordination; freshness sensitivity drives effort and pricing, while stronger stockpiling amplifies Period 1 demand but contracts Period 2 demand. This study supports fresh produce enterprises under uncertainty.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Wang Qi
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/02
TI  - Research on Coordinated Return and Pricing Decisions in a Fresh Produce Dual-Channel Supply Chain Considering Consumers’ Strategic Stockpiling and Freshness-Keeping Effort
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 4th International Conference on Digital Economy and Management Science (CDEMS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 220
EP  - 225
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-699-9_24
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-699-9_24
ID  - Qi2026
ER  -