IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/proeco/v125y2010i1p167-172.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

On the optimal product assortment: Comparing product and customer based strategies

Author

Listed:
  • Flapper, Simme Douwe P.
  • González-Velarde, José Luis
  • Smith, Neale R.
  • Escobar-Saldívar, Luis Jacob

Abstract

This paper deals with the following general question: which products should be in our product assortment/portfolio if part or all of the (potential) customers only order if we can deliver on-time the desired quantities for all or a predefined subset of the products that the customers desire (one-stop-shopping concept)? In this context, two strategies are compared: a product based assortment, in which products are included based on their expected individual contribution to the total net profit, and a customer based assortment, in which customers are included based on their expected contribution to the total net profit. Mathematical models are presented to calculate the net profit for each of the above two strategies for a manufacturer confronted with limited production capacity, setup times, setup cost, and holding cost. The results of a case study from practice show that an assortment made up of products selected based on their individual contribution may lead to a much lower expected total net profit than a customer based assortment. Suggestions for further research are given.

Suggested Citation

  • Flapper, Simme Douwe P. & González-Velarde, José Luis & Smith, Neale R. & Escobar-Saldívar, Luis Jacob, 2010. "On the optimal product assortment: Comparing product and customer based strategies," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1), pages 167-172, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:125:y:2010:i:1:p:167-172
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0925-5273(10)00027-7
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Groote, Xavier, 1994. "Flexibility and marketing/manufacturing coordination," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 153-167, September.
    2. Feryal Erhun & Sridhar Tayur, 2003. "Enterprise-Wide Optimization of Total Landed Cost at a Grocery Retailer," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 51(3), pages 343-353, June.
    3. Chen, Tsung-Hui & Chen, Jen-Ming, 2005. "Optimizing supply chain collaboration based on joint replenishment and channel coordination," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 261-285, July.
    4. Khouja, Moutaz & Goyal, Suresh, 2008. "A review of the joint replenishment problem literature: 1989-2005," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(1), pages 1-16, April.
    5. Amiya K. Chakravarty, 1984. "Joint Inventory Replenishments with Group Discounts Based on Invoice Value," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(9), pages 1105-1112, September.
    6. Sharad Borle & Peter Boatwright & Joseph B. Kadane & Joseph C. Nunes & Shmueli Galit, 2005. "The Effect of Product Assortment Changes on Customer Retention," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(4), pages 616-622, July.
    7. Sunder Kekre & Kannan Srinivasan, 1990. "Broader Product Line: A Necessity to Achieve Success?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 36(10), pages 1216-1232, October.
    8. Gérard P. Cachon & A. Gürhan Kök, 2007. "Category Management and Coordination in Retail Assortment Planning in the Presence of Basket Shopping Consumers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 53(6), pages 934-951, June.
    9. Hariga, Moncer A. & Al-Ahmari, Abdulrahman & Mohamed, Abdel-Rahman A., 2007. "A joint optimisation model for inventory replenishment, product assortment, shelf space and display area allocation decisions," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 181(1), pages 239-251, August.
    10. Paul R. Messinger & Chakravarthi Narasimhan, 1997. "A Model of Retail Formats Based on Consumers' Economizing on Shopping Time," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 1-23.
    11. Josef Kallrath, 2005. "Solving Planning and Design Problems in the Process Industry Using Mixed Integer and Global Optimization," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 140(1), pages 339-373, November.
    12. Yehuda Kahane, 1977. "Determination of the Product Mix and the Business Policy of an Insurance Company--A Portfolio Approach," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(10), pages 1060-1069, June.
    13. Gérard P. Cachon & Christian Terwiesch & Yi Xu, 2005. "Retail Assortment Planning in the Presence of Consumer Search," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 7(4), pages 330-346, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tang, Christopher S., 2010. "A review of marketing-operations interface models: From co-existence to coordination and collaboration," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(1), pages 22-40, May.
    2. Ke, Ginger Y. & Bookbinder, James H., 2012. "Discount pricing for a family of items: The supplier's optimal decisions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 255-264.
    3. J Irion & J-C Lu & F A Al-Khayyal & Y-C Tsao, 2011. "A hierarchical decomposition approach to retail shelf space management and assortment decisions," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 62(10), pages 1861-1870, October.
    4. Serguei Netessine & Terry A. Taylor, 2007. "Product Line Design and Production Technology," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 101-117, 01-02.
    5. Dorothée Honhon & Vishal Gaur & Sridhar Seshadri, 2010. "Assortment Planning and Inventory Decisions Under Stockout-Based Substitution," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 58(5), pages 1364-1379, October.
    6. Anthony J. Dukes & Tansev Geylani & Kannan Srinivasan, 2009. "Strategic Assortment Reduction by a Dominant Retailer," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(2), pages 309-319, 03-04.
    7. Lingxiu Dong & Panos Kouvelis & Zhongjun Tian, 2009. "Dynamic Pricing and Inventory Control of Substitute Products," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 11(2), pages 317-339, December.
    8. Aydın Alptekinoğlu & John H. Semple, 2016. "The Exponomial Choice Model: A New Alternative for Assortment and Price Optimization," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 79-93, February.
    9. Ayd{i}n Alptekinou{g}lu & Charles J. Corbett, 2008. "Mass Customization vs. Mass Production: Variety and Price Competition," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 204-217, August.
    10. Shin, Hojung & Park, Soohoon & Lee, Euncheol & Benton, W.C., 2015. "A classification of the literature on the planning of substitutable products," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 246(3), pages 686-699.
    11. Maria Mayorga & Hyun-Soo Ahn & Goker Aydin, 2013. "Assortment and inventory decisions with multiple quality levels," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 211(1), pages 301-331, December.
    12. Anocha Aribarg & Neeraj Arora, 2008. "—Interbrand Variant Overlap: Impact on Brand Preference and Portfolio Profit," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(3), pages 474-491, 05-06.
    13. Jonah Berger & Michaela Draganska & Itamar Simonson, 2007. "The Influence of Product Variety on Brand Perception and Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(4), pages 460-472, 07-08.
    14. Carlo Russo, 2013. "Modelli comportamentali dei consumatori e strategie di pricing della Grande Distribuzione Organizzata. Implicazioni per le filiere agroalimentari," Economia agro-alimentare, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 15(1), pages 145-155.
    15. Menezes, Mozart B.C. & Jalali, Hamed & Lamas, Alejandro, 2021. "One too many: Product proliferation and the financial performance in manufacturing," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    16. Guodong (Gordon) Gao & Lorin M. Hitt, 2012. "Information Technology and Trademarks: Implications for Product Variety," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1211-1226, June.
    17. Goker Aydin & Evan L. Porteus, 2008. "Joint Inventory and Pricing Decisions for an Assortment," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 56(5), pages 1247-1255, October.
    18. Shanshan Guo & H. Sebastian Heese, 2017. "Product variety and distribution channel structure," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 55(12), pages 3392-3410, June.
    19. Irion, Jens & Lu, Jye-Chyi & Al-Khayyal, Faiz & Tsao, Yu-Chung, 2012. "A piecewise linearization framework for retail shelf space management models," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 222(1), pages 122-136.
    20. Zhang, Chu & Zheng, Xiaona, 2021. "Customization strategies between online and offline retailers," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:125:y:2010:i:1:p:167-172. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ijpe .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.