A Model for Integrated Inventory and Assortment Planning
By Victor Martinez-de-Albeniz, Sumit Kunnumkal
Management Science | July 2022
DOI
pubsonline.informs.org/doi/epdf/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4149
Citation
Martinez-de-Albeniz, Victor., Kunnumkal, Sumit. (2021). A Model for Integrated Inventory and Assortment Planning Management Science pubsonline.informs.org/doi/epdf/10.1287/mnsc.2021.4149.
Copyright
Management Science, 2021
Share:
Abstract
Integrating inventory and assortment planning decisions is a challenging task that requires comparing the value of demand expansion through broader choice for consumers, with the value of higher in-stock availability. We develop a stockout-based substitution model for trading off these values, in a setting with limited store capacities and inventory replenishment, two features missing in the literature. Using the closed-form solution for the single product case, we develop an accurate approximation for the multi-product case. This approximated formulation allows us to optimize inventory decisions by solving a fractional integer program with a fixed-point equation constraint. When products have equal margins, we solve the integer program exactly by bisection over a one-dimensional parameter. In contrast, when products have different margins, we propose a fractional relaxation that we can also solve by bisection, and results in near-optimal solutions. Overall, our approach provides solutions within 0.1\% of the optimal policy and finds the optimal solution in 80\% of the random instances we generate.

Sumit Kunnumkal is a Professor and Area Leader of Operations Management at the Indian School of Business (ISB). He holds a PhD in Operations Research from Cornell University. He received his MS in Transportation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a B.Tech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras.

Professor Kunnumkal has previously taught at the Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, and has held visiting positions at the Singapore University of Technology and Design and Universitat Pompeu Fabra. His research interests lie in the areas of pricing and revenue management, retail operations, assortment planning, and approximate dynamic programming.

At ISB, he has taught in the PGP programme, the Fellow programme, and various Advanced Management and Executive Education programmes.

Sumit Kunnumkal
Sumit Kunnumkal