Competitive advantage in online grocery supply chains: leveraging GPT technology

Purpose Online grocery stores are facing challenges. The intense competition in the online grocery market has driven companies to seek technological innovation. Moreover, the operations of online grocery stores on both the supply and demand sides are not sufficiently meeting the requirements of consumers and managers. The powerful capabilities of the Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT) technology align with the needs of online grocery stores for innovation and upgrading. This study uniquely leverages GPT’s advanced natural language processing, adaptive learning and generative capabilities to analyze and optimize the online grocery supply chain competition in ways not possible with traditional analytical tools. Design/methodology/approach This paper constructs a Stackelberg game model, comprising a secondary supply chain consisting of a supplier who provides products and a retailer who sells them. This study explores the impact of GPT technology on online grocery store operations from the demand side and supply side, specifically including the value of service information, demand information and information-sharing behavior. Findings The findings reveal several vital conclusions: (1) On the demand side, the service information plays a crucial role in enhancing service levels and increasing consumer demand; (2) On the supply side, demand information provides positive incentives for retailers and suppliers and (3) Information-sharing behaviors can lead to cooperative relationships between upstream and downstream supply chain members, significantly increasing their respective service levels. This study not only explores the impact of GPT on the online grocery supply chain but also presents a rigorous framework for validating GPT-generated insights, ensuring the reliability of our findings. Originality/value This study provides valuable insights into a promising field. It employs game theory to analyze the impact of GPT technology on the overall operation of the online grocery supply chain and the market strategy of online grocery stores.