Third-party purchase

The primary objective of this research is to evaluate third party purchase (3PP) as a value-added service offered by 3PL providers, based on transaction cost theory. Questionnaires and interviews are the two major research methods for this research. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The qualitative data is qualitatively triangulated to explain the relationships through analysis by using Nvivo software. From the perspective of 3PL providers, this study illustrates that uncertainty, frequency, and transaction size, but not asset specificity, are significantly associated with 3PP service. From the perspective of 3PL users, the uncertainty factor is significantly related to 3PP service. In both countries, 3PP service is significantly associated with value-to-client and benefit-to-provider.