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Competition and evolution in multi-product supply chains: An agent-based retailer model

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  • He, Zhou
  • Wang, Shouyang
  • Cheng, T.C.E.

Abstract

Facing such issues as demand uncertainty and in- and cross-channel competition, managers of today's retail chains are keen to find optimal strategies that help their firms to adapt to the increasingly competitive business environment. To help retail managers to address their challenges, we propose in this paper an agent-based retail model (ARM), grounded in complex adaptive systems, which comprises three types of agents, namely suppliers, retailers, and consumers. We derive the agents' optimal behaviours in response to competition by evaluating the evolutionary behaviour of the ARM using optimisation methods and genetic algorithm. We find that consumers' ability to collect pricing information has a significant effect on the degree of competition in retail chains. In addition, we find that the everyday low price (EDLP) strategy emerges from the evolutionary behaviour of the ARM as the dominant pricing strategy in multi-product retail chains.

Suggested Citation

  • He, Zhou & Wang, Shouyang & Cheng, T.C.E., 2013. "Competition and evolution in multi-product supply chains: An agent-based retailer model," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 325-336.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:proeco:v:146:y:2013:i:1:p:325-336
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2013.07.019
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    7. Heng Du & Tiaojun Xiao, 2019. "Pricing Strategies for Competing Adaptive Retailers Facing Complex Consumer Behavior: Agent-based Model," International Journal of Information Technology & Decision Making (IJITDM), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(06), pages 1909-1939, November.
    8. Isa Feyzian-Tary & Jafar Razmi & Mohamad Sadegh Sangari, 2018. "A variational inequality formulation for designing a multi-echelon, multi-product supply chain network in a competitive environment," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 264(1), pages 89-121, May.
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    10. Ortega Jimenez, Cesar H. & Machuca, Jose A.D. & Garrido-Vega, Pedro & Filippini, Roberto, 2015. "The pursuit of responsiveness in production environments: From flexibility to reconfigurability," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 157-172.
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    12. Xiang Ma & Lingli Qing & Young-Seok Ock & Jiao Wu & Yaying Zhou, 2022. "The Effect of Customer Involvement on Green Innovation and the Intermediary Role of Boundary Spanning Capability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-20, June.
    13. Meng, Qingfeng & Li, Zhen & Liu, Huimin & Chen, Jingxian, 2017. "Agent-based simulation of competitive performance for supply chains based on combined contracts," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 663-676.
    14. Silveira, Douglas & Vasconcelos, Silvinha, 2020. "Essays on duopoly competition with asymmetric firms: Is profit maximization always an evolutionary stable strategy?," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    15. Minglin Jiang & Xiaowei Lin & Xideng Zhou & Hongfang Qiao, 2022. "Research on Supply Chain Quality Decision Model Considering Reference Effect and Competition under Different Decision-Making Modes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-20, August.
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