These competitive pressures have become especially critical for Internet retailers selling standardized items under a drop-shipping strategy. Retailers pursuing this strategy focus their efforts on acquiring and retaining customers through the provision of price statements and customer service promises. These retailers, however, do not perform any inventory-carrying and delivery functions. Instead, they rely on their suppliers to own and hold the inventory of products they sell, and resort to dedicated delivery companies (e.g., United Parcel Service) to execute the delivery activities necessary to transport these products from the suppliers’ inventory locations directly to their customers.