The Stability of MNL-Based Demand Under Dynamic Customer Substitution and Its Algorithmic Implications

The Stability of MNL-Based Demand Under Dynamic Customer Substitution and Its Algorithmic Implications PDF Author: Ali Aouad
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 53

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Book Description
We study the dynamic assortment planning problem under the widely-utilized Multinomial Logit choice model (MNL). In this single-period assortment optimization and inventory management problem, the retailer jointly decides on an assortment, i.e., a subset of products to be offered, as well as on the inventory levels of these products, aiming to maximize the expected revenue subject to a capacity constraint on the total number of units stocked. The demand process is formed by a stochastic stream of arriving customers, who dynamically substitute between products according to the MNL model. This modeling approach has motivated a growing line of research on joint assortment and inventory optimization, initiated by the seminal papers of Bassok et al. (1999) and Mahajan and van Ryzin (2001). The currently best-known provably-good approximation in the dynamic setting considered, recently devised by Aouad et al. (2018b), leads to an expected revenue of at least 0.139 times the optimum under increasing-failure rate demand distributions, far from being satisfactory in practical revenue management applications. In this paper, we establish novel stochastic inequalities showing that, for any given inventory levels, the expected demand of each offered product is "stable" under basic algorithmic operations, such as scaling the MNL preference weights and shifting inventory across certain products. By exploiting this newly-gained understanding, we devise the first approximation scheme for dynamic assortment planning under the MNL model, allowing one to efficiently compute inventory levels that approach the optimal expected revenue within any degree of accuracy. Our approximation scheme is employed in extensive computational experiments to concurrently measure the performance of various algorithmic practices proposed in earlier literature. These experiments provide further insights regarding the value of dynamic substitution models, in comparison to simple inventory models that overlook stock-out effects, and shed light on their real-life deployability.

The Stability of MNL-Based Demand Under Dynamic Customer Substitution and Its Algorithmic Implications

The Stability of MNL-Based Demand Under Dynamic Customer Substitution and Its Algorithmic Implications PDF Author: Ali Aouad
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 53

Get Book Here

Book Description
We study the dynamic assortment planning problem under the widely-utilized Multinomial Logit choice model (MNL). In this single-period assortment optimization and inventory management problem, the retailer jointly decides on an assortment, i.e., a subset of products to be offered, as well as on the inventory levels of these products, aiming to maximize the expected revenue subject to a capacity constraint on the total number of units stocked. The demand process is formed by a stochastic stream of arriving customers, who dynamically substitute between products according to the MNL model. This modeling approach has motivated a growing line of research on joint assortment and inventory optimization, initiated by the seminal papers of Bassok et al. (1999) and Mahajan and van Ryzin (2001). The currently best-known provably-good approximation in the dynamic setting considered, recently devised by Aouad et al. (2018b), leads to an expected revenue of at least 0.139 times the optimum under increasing-failure rate demand distributions, far from being satisfactory in practical revenue management applications. In this paper, we establish novel stochastic inequalities showing that, for any given inventory levels, the expected demand of each offered product is "stable" under basic algorithmic operations, such as scaling the MNL preference weights and shifting inventory across certain products. By exploiting this newly-gained understanding, we devise the first approximation scheme for dynamic assortment planning under the MNL model, allowing one to efficiently compute inventory levels that approach the optimal expected revenue within any degree of accuracy. Our approximation scheme is employed in extensive computational experiments to concurrently measure the performance of various algorithmic practices proposed in earlier literature. These experiments provide further insights regarding the value of dynamic substitution models, in comparison to simple inventory models that overlook stock-out effects, and shed light on their real-life deployability.

The New Science of Retailing

The New Science of Retailing PDF Author: Marshall Fisher
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
ISBN: 1422110575
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
Retailers today are drowning in data but lacking in insight. They have so much information at their disposal that they struggle with both how to sort through it, and how to add science to their decision-making process without blunting the art that they correctly believe is a key ingredient of their success. This book reveals how retailers can use data to manage everything from strategic assortment planning, inventory management, and markdowns to improve store-level execution. This data-driven approach to the retail supply chain leads to far greater and faster inventory turns, far fewer and lower discounted goods and services, and better profit margins. The authors also tease out the personnel issues and the organizational implications of this approach.

Retail Supply Chain Management

Retail Supply Chain Management PDF Author: Narendra Agrawal
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1489975624
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 454

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Book Description
This new edition focuses on three crucial areas of retail supply chain management: (1) empirical studies of retail supply chain practices, (2) assortment and inventory planning and (3) integrating price optimization into retail supply chain decisions. The book has been fully updated, expanding on the distinguishing features of the original, while offering three new chapters on recent topics which reflect areas of great interest and relevance to the academic and professional communities alike - inventory management in the presence of data inaccuracies, retail workforce management, and fast fashion retail strategies. The innovations, lessons for practice, and new technological solutions for managing retail supply chains are important not just in retailing, but offer crucial insights and strategies for the ultimate effective management of supply chains in other industries as well. The retail industry has emerged as a fascinating choice for researchers in the field of supply chain management. It presents a vast array of stimulating challenges that have long provided the context of much of the research in the area of operations research and inventory management. However, in recent years, advances in computing capabilities and information technologies, hyper-competition in the retail industry, emergence of multiple retail formats and distribution channels, an ever increasing trend towards a globally dispersed retail network, and a better understanding of the importance of collaboration in the extended supply chain have led to a surge in academic research on topics in retail supply chain management. Many supply chain innovations (e.g., vendor managed inventory) were first conceived and successfully validated in this industry, and have since been adopted in others. Conversely, many retailers have been quick to adopt cutting edge practices that first originated in other industries. Retail Supply Chain Management: Quantitative Models and Empirical Studies, 2nd Ed. is an attempt to summarize the state of the art in this research, as well as offer a perspective on what new applications may lie ahead.

Modeling with Stochastic Programming

Modeling with Stochastic Programming PDF Author: Alan J. King
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387878173
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 189

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Book Description
While there are several texts on how to solve and analyze stochastic programs, this is the first text to address basic questions about how to model uncertainty, and how to reformulate a deterministic model so that it can be analyzed in a stochastic setting. This text would be suitable as a stand-alone or supplement for a second course in OR/MS or in optimization-oriented engineering disciplines where the instructor wants to explain where models come from and what the fundamental issues are. The book is easy-to-read, highly illustrated with lots of examples and discussions. It will be suitable for graduate students and researchers working in operations research, mathematics, engineering and related departments where there is interest in learning how to model uncertainty. Alan King is a Research Staff Member at IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center in New York. Stein W. Wallace is a Professor of Operational Research at Lancaster University Management School in England.

The Theory and Practice of Revenue Management

The Theory and Practice of Revenue Management PDF Author: Kalyan T. Talluri
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387273913
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 731

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Book Description
Revenue management (RM) has emerged as one of the most important new business practices in recent times. This book is the first comprehensive reference book to be published in the field of RM. It unifies the field, drawing from industry sources as well as relevant research from disparate disciplines, as well as documenting industry practices and implementation details. Successful hardcover version published in April 2004.

Quantitative Techniques for Competition and Antitrust Analysis

Quantitative Techniques for Competition and Antitrust Analysis PDF Author: Peter Davis
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 1400831865
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 1185

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Book Description
This book combines practical guidance and theoretical background for analysts using empirical techniques in competition and antitrust investigations. Peter Davis and Eliana Garcés show how to integrate empirical methods, economic theory, and broad evidence about industry in order to provide high-quality, robust empirical work that is tailored to the nature and quality of data available and that can withstand expert and judicial scrutiny. Davis and Garcés describe the toolbox of empirical techniques currently available, explain how to establish the weight of pieces of empirical work, and make some new theoretical contributions. The book consistently evaluates empirical techniques in light of the challenge faced by competition analysts and academics--to provide evidence that can stand up to the review of experts and judges. The book's integrated approach will help analysts clarify the assumptions underlying pieces of empirical work, evaluate those assumptions in light of industry knowledge, and guide future work aimed at understanding whether the assumptions are valid. Throughout, Davis and Garcés work to expand the common ground between practitioners and academics.

Product Variety Management

Product Variety Management PDF Author: Teck-Hua Ho
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0792382269
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Product proliferation has become a common phenomenon. Most companies now offer hundreds, if not thousands, of stock keeping units (SKUs) in order to compete in the market place. Companies with expanding product and service varieties face with problems of obtaining accurate demand forecasts, controlling production and inventory costs, and providing high quality and good delivery performance for the customers. Marketing managers often advocate widening product lines for increasing revenue and market share. However, the breadth of product line can also decrease the efficiency of manufacturing processes and distribution systems. Thus firms must weigh the benefits of product variety against its cost in order to determine the optimal level of product variety to offer to their customers. Academics and practitioners are interested in several fundamental questions about product variety. For instance, why do companies extend their product lines? Do consumers care about product variety? Will a brand with more variety enjoy higher market share? How should product variety be measured? How can a company exploit its product and process design to deliver a higher level of product variety quickly and cheaply? What should the level of product variety be and what should the price of each of the product variants be? What kind of 'challenges would a company face in offering a high level of product variety and how can these obstacles be overcome? The solutions to these questions span multiple functions and disciplines.

Mathematical Models for Suspension Bridges

Mathematical Models for Suspension Bridges PDF Author: Filippo Gazzola
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319154346
Category : Mathematics
Languages : en
Pages : 274

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Book Description
This work provides a detailed and up-to-the-minute survey of the various stability problems that can affect suspension bridges. In order to deduce some experimental data and rules on the behavior of suspension bridges, a number of historical events are first described, in the course of which several questions concerning their stability naturally arise. The book then surveys conventional mathematical models for suspension bridges and suggests new nonlinear alternatives, which can potentially supply answers to some stability questions. New explanations are also provided, based on the nonlinear structural behavior of bridges. All the models and responses presented in the book employ the theory of differential equations and dynamical systems in the broader sense, demonstrating that methods from nonlinear analysis can allow us to determine the thresholds of instability.

Speech Coding Algorithms

Speech Coding Algorithms PDF Author: Wai C. Chu
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0471668877
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Book Description
Speech coding is a highly mature branch of signal processing deployed in products such as cellular phones, communication devices, and more recently, voice over internet protocol This book collects many of the techniques used in speech coding and presents them in an accessible fashion Emphasizes the foundation and evolution of standardized speech coders, covering standards from 1984 to the present The theory behind the applications is thoroughly analyzed and proved

Handbook of Transportation Science

Handbook of Transportation Science PDF Author: Randolph Hall
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0306480581
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 737

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Book Description
Over the past thirty-five years, a substantial amount of theoretical and empirical scholarly research has been developed across the discipline domains of Transportation. This research has been synthesized into a systematic handbook that examines the scientific concepts, methods, and principles of this growing and evolving field. The Handbook of Transportation Science outlines the field of transportation as a scientific discipline that transcends transportation technology and methods. Whether by car, truck, airplane - or by a mode of transportation that has not yet been conceived - transportation obeys fundamental properties. The science of transportation defines these properties, and demonstrates how our knowledge of one mode of transportation can be used to explain the behavior of another. Transportation scientists are motivated by the desire to explain spatial interactions that result in movement of people or objects from place to place. Its methodologies draw from physics, operations research, probability and control theory.