This work is motivated by the emergence of increasing cooperation between retailers and third-party (3P) platforms in China. When both the manufacturer and the retailer can sell through 3P platforms, a question arises: Who should use a 3P platform channel? Having the option of more than one...

With the increasing popularity of third-party platforms, some retailers have used third-party platform to sell their products in addition to their own online and offline channels, while others retailers have not. An important question thus arises: should a retailer sell through a third-party...