Selection of financing strategies and business modes for a capital-constrained manufacturer

E-commerce platforms adopt both reseller and agency business modes to achieve better performance, and also provide financing services for qualified manufacturers to alleviate their financial difficulties. This paper analyzes financing strategy (bank financing or platform financing) and business mode selection (reseller mode, agency mode or both of them) for a capital-constrained manufacturer. We find that no matter which business mode is adopted, the platform always provides lower interest rates than bank, which in turn makes retail prices lower. Meanwhile, the manufacturer and the platform can become more profitable under platform financing. In addition, compared with the manufacturer adopting bank financing, the manufacturer has different business mode preferences when adopting platform financing. We put forward business mode recommendations for the manufacturer under different financing strategies.