In: L., Lyu, G., Yu, Y., Teo, C. P. 2019. Fulfllment by Amazon versus Fulfllment by Seller: An Interpretable Risk-Adjusted Fulfllment Model. Forthcoming, Naval Research Logistics.
AbstractWith dual‐channel choices, E‐retailers fulfill their demands by either the inventory stored in third‐party distribution centers, or by in‐house inventory. In this article, using data from a wedding gown E‐retailer in China, we analyze the differences between two fulfillment choices—fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and fulfillment by seller (FBS). In particular, we want to understand the impact of FBA that will bring to sales and profit, compared to FBS, and how the impact is related to product features such as sizes and colors. We develop a risk‐adjusted fulfillment model to address this problem, where the E‐retailer's risk attitude to FBA is incorporated. We denote the profit gaps between FBA and FBS as the rewards for this E‐retailer fulfilling products using FBA, our goal is to maximize the E‐retailer's total rewards using predictive analytics. We adopt the generalized linear model to predict the expected rewards, while controlling for the variability of the reward distribution. We apply our model on a set of real data, and develop an explicit decision rule that can be easily implemented in practice. The numerical experiments show that our interpretable decision rule can improve the E‐retailer's total rewards by more than 35%.
"We suggest that the goal to aggress increases accessibility of aggressive thoughts, and that after goal-fulfillment, accessibility of aggressive content is reduced. Experiment 1 showed an increase in accessibility of aggression after imagining an aggression-eliciting situation compared to non-aggressive content. After goal-fulfillment the accessibility of aggression was reduced, regardless of whether fulfillment was achieved by imagining physical or symbolic revenge. Experiment 2 showed similar effects for a non-aggressive conflict-resolution and, in addition, demonstrated a post-fulfillment reduction in actual aggressive behavior. Experiment 3 demonstrated that aggressive acts that do not constitute goal-fulfillment instead increase accessibility of aggression. Relations between our model and previous views on catharsis of aggression are discussed." [author's abstract]