Optimal Choices for the E-Tailer with Inventory Rationing, Hybrid Channel Strategies, and Service Level Constraint under Multiperiod Environments

Abstract

This paper investigates optimal choices for the e-tailer with inventory rationing, hybrid channel strategies, and service level constraint under multiperiod environment. Based on different operational conditions, five mathematical models are proposed for the e-tailer who faces two types of fuzzy demand and a framework is designed to illustrate the e-tailer’s operation in different models. This paper presents the advantages of inventory rationing and hybrid channel strategies and analyzes the influences of channel differences variability on optimal choices for the e-tailer, where the channel differences include margin difference of priority and margin difference of channel. Through computer simulation, the optimal choices for the e-tailer under different multiperiod environments are obtained, and the influences of margin difference of priority and margin difference of channel on the e-tailer’s optimal choices are also examined. Experiment results show that the pure-play drop shipping model and the hybrid channel with inventory rationing model are the optimal choices for the e-tailer; these findings have valuable guiding significance for the e-tailer to make optimal tactical decisions under multiperiod environment.