In rental information goods supply chain, such as movie DVDs and computers games, the retailer decides on the quantity of DVDs to purchase from the supplier, the rental fee, and the maximum rental duration. These decisions are directly affected by the price the supplier charges the retailers for...

Many service providers, such as restaurants, are selling their gift cards through independent retailers. We analyze a supply chain of a service provider who sells products and gift cards at face value at its locations. The service provider also sells its gift cards through a retailer. Consumers...

In this paper, we develop a newsvendor model in which the retailer gives “free” gift cards to consumers who purchase a regularly priced product at the end of the selling season instead of discounting the product. The model is developed for a market with patient consumers. We derive the...