COORDINATING BUYER-SELLER TRANSACTIONS ACROSS MULTIPLE PRODUCTS

Joint ordering policies are examined as a method for reducing the tran sactions cost for multiple products sold by a seller to a homogeneous group of buyers. The problem of determining efficient joint ordering p olicies has the same structure as the previously-examined problem of d etermining the efficient ordering policy for a single product. Efficie nt joint lot-sizes are independent of prices, and are supported by a r ange of average-unit prices that permit every possible allocation of t he transactions-cost saving between the buyer and the seller. Product bundling supports efficient joint orders across products, just as a qu antity discount supports efficient transactions for a single product.