Optimal joint dynamic pricing and inventory replenishment policy for perishable products with freshness-sensitive demand

This paper aims to propose a mathematical model for joint pricing and inventory replenishment decisions of a retailer who faces a freshness-sensitive demand. The retailer has the option to submit fast replenishment orders with lower profit margins to other peer retailers within the short lifecycle of the perishable products in addition to the regular replenishment orders that take place at the start of the lifecycle. Also, the retailer can sell the end-of-season perished product at lower prices. The proposed model is capable of handling different types of demand and freshness functions. To show the applicability of the proposed model, it is used to optimise pricing, discounting, inventory, and replenishment decisions of two product categories of a major retailer in Iran using real-world data. Results indicate that the retailer should pursue a specific joint pricing and replenishment strategy in each product category. A sensitivity analysis is also performed for initial inventory and initial price for each of the categories. Results revealed that each of the factors contributes differently to the total profit in each category. The total profit showed a different level of sensitivity to changes in the two aforementioned tweaked parameters.