Through field research,this study finds that there are significant discrepancies among platforms,merchants,and delivery riders regarding the entity responsible for bearing takeaway delivery fees;in reality,however,mer...Through field research,this study finds that there are significant discrepancies among platforms,merchants,and delivery riders regarding the entity responsible for bearing takeaway delivery fees;in reality,however,merchants largely assume this cost.Furthermore,by constructing an extended spatial price competition model,the study deduces that as long as product homogeneity is high and market competition is sufficiently intense,regardless of the nominal fee-bearing mechanism designed by the platform,the actual burden of delivery fees will ultimately be passed on to merchants,forming a negative cycle of“low prices→low quality→high costs.”Conversely,when there are significant differences in product quality,quality advantages can be converted into price premiums,enabling high-quality merchants to transfer part of the delivery costs through their pricing power and reduce their actual burden ratio.Although platform mechanisms improve market matching efficiency,they are not the core variable determining the structure of the delivery fees burden.In essence,the key factors influencing who bears the delivery fees are the intensity of competition among merchants and the quality differences between commodities.In China’s highly competitive market structure with insufficient differentiation,regardless of the commission or delivery fees system adopted by the platform,vulnerable merchants inevitably end up bearing a high proportion of the fees.The research conclusions hold important policy implications for the current supervision of platform fees and the development strategies of merchants:platforms should be guided to establish fair and transparent fee mechanisms,merchants should be encouraged to develop high-quality and differentiated commodities,and the platform economy should be urged to break free from the negative cycle of homogeneous competition and move toward a path of sustainable and high-quality development.展开更多
基金supported by a project of the National Natural Science Foundation of China:“Business Development and Competition in the Digital Transformation of the Service Industry:A Theoretical Analysis Based on Digital Construction and Digital Business Layout”(No.72203230)。
文摘Through field research,this study finds that there are significant discrepancies among platforms,merchants,and delivery riders regarding the entity responsible for bearing takeaway delivery fees;in reality,however,merchants largely assume this cost.Furthermore,by constructing an extended spatial price competition model,the study deduces that as long as product homogeneity is high and market competition is sufficiently intense,regardless of the nominal fee-bearing mechanism designed by the platform,the actual burden of delivery fees will ultimately be passed on to merchants,forming a negative cycle of“low prices→low quality→high costs.”Conversely,when there are significant differences in product quality,quality advantages can be converted into price premiums,enabling high-quality merchants to transfer part of the delivery costs through their pricing power and reduce their actual burden ratio.Although platform mechanisms improve market matching efficiency,they are not the core variable determining the structure of the delivery fees burden.In essence,the key factors influencing who bears the delivery fees are the intensity of competition among merchants and the quality differences between commodities.In China’s highly competitive market structure with insufficient differentiation,regardless of the commission or delivery fees system adopted by the platform,vulnerable merchants inevitably end up bearing a high proportion of the fees.The research conclusions hold important policy implications for the current supervision of platform fees and the development strategies of merchants:platforms should be guided to establish fair and transparent fee mechanisms,merchants should be encouraged to develop high-quality and differentiated commodities,and the platform economy should be urged to break free from the negative cycle of homogeneous competition and move toward a path of sustainable and high-quality development.
