Logistics pricing strategy considering information uncertainty in live-streaming commerce
Bo Lü, Xin Xu, Yonggang Li, Jianjun Wang
Abstract
Promotional activities in live-streaming commerce (LSC) trigger order surges, exacerbating logistics congestion. However, existing literature on LSC logistics optimisation has not sufficiently incorporated the emerging characteristics of service heterogeneity and information incompatibility arising from digital transformation. Therefore, we propose a logistics pricing mechanism comparing uniform and differentiated pricing strategies and evaluate the impact of LSC business price sensitivity and information sharing on logistics pricing strategies, identifying the optimal conditions for differentiated or uniform pricing strategies under dynamic demand. Results indicate that logistics providers tend toward uniform pricing when smart service fails to offset congestion costs, whereas differentiated pricing becomes optimal when smart service significantly reduces processing costs through digitalised operations. Both congestion and smart service processing time jointly influence pricing decisions. Higher information ambiguity leads digitally advanced providers to implement uniform pricing strategies as protection from ambiguity-induced uncertainties. Changing order distribution patterns necessitate corresponding pricing adjustments. Our study provides pricing strategies that optimise resource allocation, mitigate congestion, and enhance LSC logistics efficiency.