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Article
Publication date: 7 March 2023

Soroosh Saghiri, Emel Aktas and Maryam Mohammadipour

Perishable inventory management for the grocery sector has become more challenging with extended omnichannel activities and emerging consumer expectations. This paper aims to…

Abstract

Purpose

Perishable inventory management for the grocery sector has become more challenging with extended omnichannel activities and emerging consumer expectations. This paper aims to identify and formalize key performance measures of omnichannel perishable inventory management (OCPI) and explore the influence of operational and market-related factors on these measures.

Design/methodology/approach

The inductive approach of this research synthesizes three performance measures (product waste, lost sales and freshness) and four influencing factors (channel effect, demand variability, product perishability and shelf life visibility) for OCPI, through industry investigation, expert interviews and a systematic literature review. Treating OCPI as a complex adaptive system and considering its transaction costs, this paper formalizes the OCPI performance measures and their influencing factors in two statements and four propositions, which are then tested through numerical analysis with simulation.

Findings

Product waste, lost sales and freshness are identified as distinctive OCPI performance measures, which are influenced by product perishability, shelf life visibility, demand variability and channel effects. The OCPI sensitivity to those influencing factors is diverse, whereas those factors are found to moderate each other's effects.

Practical implications

To manage perishables more effectively, with less waste and lost sales for the business and fresher products for the consumer, omnichannel firms need to consider store and online channel requirements and strive to reduce demand variability, extend product shelf life and facilitate item-level shelf life visibility. While flexible logistics capacity and dynamic pricing can mitigate demand variability, the product shelf life extension needs modifications in product design, production, or storage conditions. OCPI executives can also increase the product shelf life visibility through advanced stock monitoring/tracking technologies (e.g. smart tags or more comprehensive barcodes), particularly for the online channel which demands fresher products.

Originality/value

This paper provides a novel theoretical view on perishables in omnichannel systems. It specifies the OCPI performance, beyond typical inventory policies for cost minimization, while discussing its sensitivity to operations and market factors.

Details

International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 43 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 August 2023

Banumathy Sundararaman and Neelakandan Ramalingam

This study was carried out to analyze the importance of consumer preference data in forecasting demand in apparel retailing.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was carried out to analyze the importance of consumer preference data in forecasting demand in apparel retailing.

Methodology

To collect preference data, 729 hypothetical stock keeping units (SKU) were derived using a full factorial design, from a combination of six attributes and three levels each. From the hypothetical SKU's, 63 practical SKU's were selected for further analysis. Two hundred two responses were collected from a store intercept survey. Respondents' utility scores for all 63 SKUs were calculated using conjoint analysis. In estimating aggregate demand, to allow for consumer substitution and to make the SKU available when a consumer wishes to buy more than one item in the same SKU, top three highly preferred SKU's utility scores of each individual were selected and classified using a decision tree and was aggregated. A choice rule was modeled to include substitution; by applying this choice rule, aggregate demand was estimated.

Findings

The respondents' utility scores were calculated. The value of Kendall's tau is 0.88, the value of Pearson's R is 0.98 and internal predictive validity using Kendall's tau is 1.00, and this shows the high quality of data obtained. The proposed model was used to estimate the demand for 63 SKUs. The demand was estimated at 6.04 per cent for the SKU cotton, regular style, half sleeve, medium priced, private label. The proposed model for estimating demand using consumer preference data gave better estimates close to actual sales than expert opinion data. The Spearman's rank correlation between actual sales and consumer preference data is 0.338 and is significant at 5 per cent level. The Spearman's rank correlation between actual sales and expert opinion is −0.059, and there is no significant relation between expert opinion data and actual sales. Thus, consumer preference model proves to be better in estimating demand than expert opinion data.

Research implications

There has been a considerable amount of work done in choice-based models. There is a lot of scope in working in deterministic models.

Practical implication

The proposed consumer preference-based demand estimation model can be beneficial to the apparel retailers in increasing their profit by reducing stock-out and overstocking situations. Though conjoint analysis is used in demand estimation in other industries, it is not used in apparel for demand estimations and can be greater use in its simplest form.

Originality/value

This research is the first one to model consumer preferences-based data to estimate demand in apparel. This research was practically tested in an apparel retail store. It is original.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 1990

Roger J. Sandilands

Allyn Young′s lectures, as recorded by the young Nicholas Kaldor,survey the historical roots of the subject from Aristotle through to themodern neo‐classical writers. The focus…

Abstract

Allyn Young′s lectures, as recorded by the young Nicholas Kaldor, survey the historical roots of the subject from Aristotle through to the modern neo‐classical writers. The focus throughout is on the conditions making for economic progress, with stress on the institutional developments that extend and are extended by the size of the market. Organisational changes that promote the division of labour and specialisation within and between firms and industries, and which promote competition and mobility, are seen as the vital factors in growth. In the absence of new markets, inventions as such play only a minor role. The economic system is an inter‐related whole, or a living “organon”. It is from this perspective that micro‐economic relations are analysed, and this helps expose certain fallacies of composition associated with the marginal productivity theory of production and distribution. Factors are paid not because they are productive but because they are scarce. Likewise he shows why Marshallian supply and demand schedules, based on the “one thing at a time” approach, cannot adequately describe the dynamic growth properties of the system. Supply and demand cannot be simply integrated to arrive at a picture of the whole economy. These notes are complemented by eleven articles in the Encyclopaedia Britannica which were published shortly after Young′s sudden death in 1929.

Details

Journal of Economic Studies, vol. 17 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-3585

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 September 2016

Ji Yan, Kun Tian, Saeed Heravi and Peter Morgan

This paper aims to investigate consumers’ demand patterns for products with nutritional benefits and products with no nutritional benefits across processed healthy and unhealthy…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate consumers’ demand patterns for products with nutritional benefits and products with no nutritional benefits across processed healthy and unhealthy foods. This paper integrates price changes (i.e. increases and decreases) into a demand model and quantifies their relative impact on the quantity of food purchased. First, how demand patterns vary across processed healthy and unhealthy products is investigated; second, how demand patterns vary across nutrition-benefited (NB) products and non-nutrition-benefited (NNB) products is examined; and third, how consumers respond to price increases and decreases for NB across processed healthy and unhealthy foods is investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

Here, a demand model quantifying scenarios for price changes in consumer food choice behaviour is proposed, and controlled for heterogeneity at household, store and brand levels.

Findings

Consumers exhibit greater sensitivity to price decreases and less sensitivity to price increases across both processed healthy and unhealthy foods. Moreover, the research shows that consumers’ demand sensitivity is greater for NNB products than for NB products, supporting our prediction that NB products have higher brand equity than NNB products. Furthermore, the research shows that consumers are more responsive to price decreases than price increases for processed healthy NB foods, but more responsive to price increases than price decreases for unhealthy NB foods. The findings suggest that consumers exhibit a desirable demand pattern for products with nutritional benefits.

Originality/value

Although studies on the effects of nutritional benefits on demand have proliferated in recent years, researchers have only estimated their impact without considering the effect of price changes. This paper contributes by examining consumers’ price sensitivity for NB products across processed healthy and unhealthy foods based on consumer scanner data, considering both directionalities of price changes.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 50 no. 9/10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 June 2012

Dang Luo and Bo Song

The purpose of this paper is to research the status quo and future trends of the income elasticity of the consumer demand of Chinese rural residents.

695

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to research the status quo and future trends of the income elasticity of the consumer demand of Chinese rural residents.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses model ELES and model GM (1,1) to analyze and predict the income elasticity of consumer demand in the rural areas of China.

Findings

The findings show the indicator that the income elasticity of consumer demand in the rural areas of China is quite large at present, but most sub‐categories of the indicators show a declining trend in the future.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the relevant departments to adjust the economic polices timely and reasonably according to specific form based on the findings above.

Originality/value

The income elasticity of consumer demand is an important indicator, reflecting the relationship between consumer demand and income, so it is of great significance to research it.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 41 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 June 2020

Lei Li, Yaxuan Dai and Yudong Sun

Employing big data analysis tools, this study examines the significance of supply chain integration affecting online financial consumption, analyzes the online financial…

Abstract

Purpose

Employing big data analysis tools, this study examines the significance of supply chain integration affecting online financial consumption, analyzes the online financial consumption demand of mobile phone consumers, promotes the optimization of supply chain services with consumers as the focus and proposes full integration of a mobile phone supply chain in terms of product, logistics and marketing, in order to improve the supply and demand relationship between consumers and suppliers; the overall objective is to promote further development of online financial consumption.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, TF-IDF (term frequency–inverse document frequency) and cosine similarity text analysis are used for analyzing online demand for mobile phone products, studying the influence of supply chain services on consumption demand and identifying strategies for promoting overall optimization of the supply chain to meet online financial consumption demands of consumers; the study analyzes online reviews on mobile phone topics from the JingDong (JD) platform and Weibo platform.

Findings

Research results show that online demand for mobile phone products is greatly influenced by supply chain links such as product design, logistics transportation and marketing promotion. The consumption demand for different mobile phone products has different emphases, but the differences are not significant. The overall improvement of the supply chain should focus on product research and development, logistics layout optimization and marketing promotion, in order to meet and guide the online financial demand of consumers and improve the effectiveness of supply chain management.

Research limitations/implications

This study only considered data from China's largest online mobile phone sales platform and Weibo text data owing to the data sensitivity involved.

Originality/value

There are few supply chain optimization studies based on online financial consumption reviews from customers. Therefore, this study integrates online consumption trends into a supply chain analysis framework to explore strategies for promoting supply chain optimization according to customer demands, improving the benign interaction of participants in the supply chain and promoting the development of online financial consumption.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 121 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 August 2012

Dang Luo and Bo Song

The purpose of this paper is to research the status quo and future trend of the income elasticity of consumer demand of Chinese rural residents.

339

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to research the status quo and future trend of the income elasticity of consumer demand of Chinese rural residents.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper uses Model ELES and Model GM(1,1) to analyze and predict the income elasticity of consumer demand in the rural areas of China.

Findings

The findings show the indicator that the income elasticity of consumer demand in the rural areas of China is quite large at present, but most sub‐categories of the indicators show a declining trend in the future.

Practical implications

The paper includes implications for the relevant departments to adjust the economic polices timely and reasonably, according to specific form based on the findings above.

Originality/value

The income elasticity of consumer demand is an important indicator reflecting the relationship between consumer demand and income, so it is of great significance to research it.

Details

Grey Systems: Theory and Application, vol. 2 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2043-9377

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 20 November 2017

Asli D.A. Tasci

The purpose of this paper is to measure the potential influence of sociodemographic characteristics on consumers’ stated importance for sustainability benchmarks for satisfaction…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to measure the potential influence of sociodemographic characteristics on consumers’ stated importance for sustainability benchmarks for satisfaction, the importance of different areas for benchmarks and the importance of different organizations having benchmarks.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative methods with a structured survey was applied on an online survey platform called Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, or MTurk. A total of 417 completed surveys were collected from residents in the USA; however, missing values reduced the sample size to 410 and 411 for some variables. The data were analyzed using descriptives, frequencies, t-test and one-way ANOVA test using SPSS version 24.

Findings

The results revealed consumers’ short-term focus on self-related benefits, rather than long-term-oriented sustainability concerns, and thus a lack of awareness and demand for sustainability-related benchmarks. Only gender showed a strong explanatory power in explaining the demand for all benchmarks, including those related to sustainability.

Research limitations/implications

The study was conducted online with volunteer participants, regarding their general attitudes rather than a specific consumption experience. On-site studies of consumers of organizations applying or not applying sustainability benchmarks could enable the identification of fresh attitudes and opinions as consumers experience the products and services of the organizations.

Practical implications

Organizations advocating sustainability may need to step up in increasing consumer awareness and attention. None of the formal sustainability-related certificates were mentioned by respondents. The burden of this education should perhaps also be placed on the organizations providing these certificates; they may need to start following the marketing approach, investigating consumers when formulating and promoting these certificates.

Social implications

In light of the socially desirable tendencies of human beings, marketing communication messages that relate ethics and moral development to sustainable behavior may be more compelling for both suppliers and consumers. Consumers with different ethical views may require different motivation for demanding sustainability benchmarks.

Originality/value

Although much attention has been focused on sustainable development, and many standardization tools and benchmarks have been developed to ensure sustainable tourism and hospitality practices, there is a lack of attention concerning consumers’ awareness of, demand for and especially, consumer characteristics that determine their demand for such benchmarks. The current study is one of the few that fill this void in literature.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 72 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1973

PHILIP B. SCHARY and BORIS W. BECKER

This monograph progresses from a consideration of definitional issues to the development of a conceptual model for marketing‐logistics interaction and finally to a discussion of…

Abstract

This monograph progresses from a consideration of definitional issues to the development of a conceptual model for marketing‐logistics interaction and finally to a discussion of the issues of implementation of the model within the context of marketing strategy. Thus, following an introduction, Part II begins with definition of the field and examines the position of physical distribution in relation to marketing. Part III discusses the relationship of physical distribution and macro‐marketing, and is thus concerned about the social, aggregative goals of logistics systems, including the costs of distribution. Part IV continues this argument, examining specifically the influence of physical distribution on channel structure. Part V then focuses on the assumptions underlying the customer service function, asking how physical distribution can influence final demand in the market place. Part VI presents a conceptual model of marketing‐logistics demand stimulation. The operational issues concerned with its implementation are shown in Part VII; and a summary of the relevant points is presented in Part VIII. The concern has been not with presenting either new computational models nor empirical data but with presenting a new perspective on the marketing‐logistics interface. There is a need to reduce the barriers between these fields and to present more useful ways for co‐operation.

Details

International Journal of Physical Distribution, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0020-7527

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2016

Faical Akaichi and Cesar Revoredo-Giha

The purpose of this paper is to assess Scottish consumers’ demand for animal welfare and organic pork. The paper also tried to answer the following questions: first, are…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assess Scottish consumers’ demand for animal welfare and organic pork. The paper also tried to answer the following questions: first, are animal-friendly pork and organic-pork complements or substitutes (competing)? Second, what is the relationship between pork products with different animal welfare labels (i.e. “freedom food” pork vs “specially selected pork”)? Third, does the demand for animal-friendly and organic pork vary with the level of deprivation of the area where consumers are living?

Design/methodology/approach

The dataset used in the analysis is the Kantar Worldpanel dataset for Scotland, which contains weekly data of food and drink purchases for consumption at home, covering the period 2006-2011. The panel is representative of the Scottish population and covers about 3,694 households. The linear version of the almost ideal demand system was estimated. Then, the own- and the cross-price elasticities as well as the expenditure elasticities for the 22 food categories and products were computed.

Findings

The results indicate that when the price of animal-friendly pork increases, consumers decrease their consumption of this product and substitute it by organic pork or regular pork, especially in the case of fresh pork, bacon and sausages. It was found that products with different animal welfare accreditation are substitutes in the eyes of Scottish consumers and are, therefore, competing for the market share of animal-friendly foods. The results also show that the demand for animal-friendly pork is more elastic in the most deprived areas in Scotland.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that estimates the demand for conventional, animal-friendly and organic pork using a scanner data in Scotland and controlling for the variation by area of deprivation.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 118 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

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