Online marketplaces provide a platform that connects suppliers with customers, allowing vendors to sell their products to a broader audience. To streamline customer experience, some marketplaces allocate a set of fulfillment vendors and stockpoints at the moment a customer is placing an order in the platform. This order allocation decision impacts not only fulfillment costs and customer...
Retailers’ product mix selection is a key determinant of market share, profitability, and long-term success. While a broader assortment increases the likelihood of meeting diverse customer preferences, it raises inventory-related costs and stockout risks, ultimately affecting operational performance and customer loyalty. This challenge is amplified for perishable goods, where limited shelf...
Omnichannel grocery retailers often use stores to fulfill online orders for a variety of reasons (e.g., faster deliveries, labor availability). This strategy influences inventory management, particularly the spoilage ratio (defined as the ratio of loss to sales) in two opposing ways. Fulfilling online orders has the potential to increase the sales-to-stock ratio thereby improving turnover...
