匹配不确定下AI虚拟展厅对零售商定价策略与利润的影响研究

Research on the Impact of AI Virtual Showrooms on Retailers’ Pricing Strategies and Profits under Match Uncertainty

摘要: 针对网络零售中普遍存在的匹配不确定问题，AI虚拟展厅应运而生。本文聚焦AI虚拟展厅对消费者渠道选择与零售商定价的影响，通过构建双寡头竞争模型，分别分析AI虚拟展厅投入作为外生变量与内生变量情形下的决策优化问题。研究结果表明，AI虚拟展厅投入显著提高了线上消费者的满意概率，增强线上渠道的吸引力。AI投入水平与AI效率系数、基础满意率呈正相关，与等待时间成本存在约束条件。AI技术效率存在临界值，低于临界值时线上零售商利润更高，超过临界值则线下零售商利润更高。AI交通成本与等待成本共同影响AI虚拟展厅投入有效性与线下渠道生存空间，AI投入强度的提升会进一步重塑渠道竞争的边界条件。通过对比外生与内生两种情形，内生AI投入可使线上零售商更有效地平衡技术成本与收益，增加利润，而线下零售商的利润随AI投入波动变化。

Abstract: To address the widespread issue of match uncertainty in online retailing, AI virtual showrooms have emerged. This paper focuses on the impact of AI virtual showrooms on consumers’ channel choices and retailers’ pricing strategies. By developing a duopoly competition model, it analyzes decision-making optimization problems under two scenarios: AI virtual showroom investment as an exogenous variable and as an endogenous variable. The findings indicate that AI virtual showroom investment significantly increases online consumer satisfaction probability and enhances online channel appeal. The level of AI investment is positively correlated with AI efficiency coefficient and base satisfaction rate, while being constrained by waiting time costs. Here exists a critical value for AI technological efficiency: below it, online retailers earn higher profits; above it, offline retailers gain higher profits. AI-related transportation cost and waiting cost jointly influence the effectiveness of AI virtual showroom investment and the viability of the offline channel; a higher intensity of AI investment further reshapes the boundary conditions of channel competition. By comparing the exogenous and endogenous scenarios, endogenous AI investment allows online retailers to more effectively balance technological costs and benefits, thereby increasing profits, whereas offline retailers’ profits fluctuate in response to changes in AI investment.