Interplay between manufacturers’ blockchain adoption strategy and retailers’ online channel introduction strategy in the presence of counterfeits

This study explores the interplay between the manufacturer’s blockchain adoption and the retailer’s online channel introduction strategy in the presence of counterfeits. Subsequently, the impact of blockchain adoption and channel selection decisions on consumer surplus is analyzed. We examine four distinct scenarios: with and without blockchain adoption, and in both single-channel and dual-channel settings. The results demonstrate that blockchain adoption significantly impacts the retailer’s channel distribution decisions. With blockchain, the retailer is always willing to add an online store. However, without blockchain, the retailer prefers to launch an online channel only when customer acceptance of the online store is high, or both customer acceptance of the online store and the number of purely online customers are low. Moreover, the retailer’s online channel introduction strategy can, in turn, affect the manufacturer’s blockchain adoption strategy. Specifically, the manufacturer will adopt blockchain only when consumers’ acceptance of the online channel is sufficiently high. Finally, utilizing blockchain can support strategies for expanding online sales channels. And retailers can leverage dual-channel models to enhance profitability and increase consumer surplus, while manufacturers can benefit from increased consumer confidence and expanded sales channels. Furthermore, governments should support blockchain adoption to foster these benefits.