Research on third-party logistics platform transformations and platform finance

Abstract

The boom in E-commerce in the past 10 years in China has facilitated the development of platforms and logistics services. Given 20 years of work experience in the logistics sector, the author has been testing and implementing innovative business models surrounding the core business of third-party logistics (3PL) service providers. This study explores the rationale behind the business model from both theoretical and empirical perspectives. In this thesis, we first model the competitive relationship between an E-commerce platform and third-party sellers based on game theory and analyze the competitive strategy and innovative investment strategies of platform and third-party sellers under two game stages. Then, we explore platform finance strategies and provide suggestions on how to improve platforms’ financial services. Finally, we examine the impact of platform financial services on sellers’ credit risks. We find that (1) the E-commerce platform and third-party sellers should adopt the price leader strategy or the price follower strategy, respectively, in the competition structure. Moreover, third-party sellers are often in a difficult survival situation in the competition of E-commerce platforms and third-party sellers. (2) When third-party sellers act as price leaders through innovative investment, their profits increase, while when third-party sellers act as price followers and the innovation ability is low, adopting innovation investment strategies will reduce their profits. Under certain conditions, this conclusion can provide suggestions for third-party sellers to consider whether to adopt innovative investment strategies. (3) From the perspective of platform finance strategy, we give the following suggestions: broaden the channels of funding sources, optimize the commercial technology level of the platform, improve the construction of the payment system, strengthen the construction of credit information system, cultivate compound talent. (4) Platform financial services have a significant influence on decreasing sellers’ credit risks.