Simultaneous vs Sequential: Optimal Assortment Recommendation in Multi-Store Retailing

62 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2023 Last revised: 16 Jan 2024

See all articles by Yicheng Liu

Yicheng Liu

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

Xiao Alison Chen

University of New Hampshire - Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics

Yan Liu

Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Zizhuo Wang

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen

Date Written: October 4, 2023

Abstract

\textbf{Problem definition:} We study a multi-store assortment planning problem in which a seller centrally decides the assortment of products in each store. Each store is visited by a certain fraction of customers. Upon arrival, customers observe the products offered in the current store. The seller can either 1) show products offered in other stores to customers simultaneously (called simultaneous offering strategy) or 2) show products offered in other stores to customers if they decide not to purchase in the current store (called sequential offering strategy). Customers may incur a disutility if they choose products from other stores. We study the optimal assortment planning problem under each of the two strategies and compare their performance. \textbf{Methodology/results:} We show that under the simultaneous strategy, the optimal assortment for each store is revenue-ordered, and the seller cannot do better than if it operates each store separately. In contrast, adopting the sequential strategy can significantly increase the seller's revenue. In particular, when customers' disutilities of purchasing from other stores are universally homogeneous, the optimal assortment under the sequential offering strategy is revenue-ordered for each store, and the store with a lower (higher, resp.) demand should offer a larger (smaller, resp.) assortment to facilitate the sequential selling process. We then compare the two offering strategies in terms of the seller's revenue and customer surplus and analyze the impact of parameters on the revenue comparison. We also consider several extensions, e.g., heterogeneous valuation, capacity constraint, and partial recommendation, and find that our main results still hold qualitatively. Finally, we study the joint assortment and pricing problem under both strategies. \textbf{Managerial implications:} The sequential offering strategy may be a better strategy for sellers in practice. We provide detailed guidelines for sellers to implement the sequential strategy, such as regarding the optimal assortment decisions and when sellers can exploit the most benefits.

Keywords: multi-store retailing, assortment optimization, simultaneous/sequential offering strategy

Suggested Citation

Liu, Yicheng and Chen, Xiao and Liu, Yan and Wang, Zizhuo, Simultaneous vs Sequential: Optimal Assortment Recommendation in Multi-Store Retailing (October 4, 2023). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4592172 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4592172

Yicheng Liu (Contact Author)

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen ( email )

Xiao Chen

University of New Hampshire - Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics ( email )

10 Garrison Ave
Durham, NH 03824
United States

Yan Liu

Faculty of Business, Hong Kong Polytechnic University ( email )

Hong Kong

Zizhuo Wang

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen ( email )

2001 Longxiang Road
Longgang District
Shenzhen, Guangdong 517182
China

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