Assortment Planning at an Omni-Channel Retailer: Long-Tail Strategy, Demand Fulfillment Level, and Primary Channel

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sapra, Amar; Kumar, Subodha
• 署名单位: Indian Institute of Management (IIM System); Indian Institute of Management Bangalore; Pennsylvania Commonwealth System of Higher Education (PCSHE); Temple University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0742-1222; 1557-928X
• DOI: 10.1080/07421222.2025.2561387
• 发表日期: 2025-10-02
• 页码: 1206-1242
• 关键词: Omni-channel retail; joint assortment; long-tail strategy; demand fulfillment level; online retail; online-offline; online; COORDINATION; optimization; integration; commerce; prices

摘要

In this study, we develop insights on three key aspects related to omni-channel assortment: product popularity, demand fulfillment level, and channel primacy. Regarding product popularity, we probe whether conventional wisdom of selling popular products through the physical channel and niche products through the online channel is always optimal. Our results show that this suggestion may be sub-optimal when the price in the online channel is greater or customers are heterogeneous in their preference for channel. For demand fulfillment level, we examine whether popular products should always have greater demand fulfillment level. We find that the fulfillment level depends on the cost structure of the channel through which the product is sold and not on demand volume. Finally, we develop insights on when it is optimal to sell most or all of the products through one of the channels and explore how this is affected by changes in model parameters.