(An) optimal pricing and inventory control for a commodity with price and sales-period dependent demand pattern

Abstract

This thesis deals with an integrated problem of inventory control and dynamic pricing strategies for a commodity with price and sales-period dependent demand pattern, where a seller and customers have complete information of each other. The problem consists of two parts; one is each buyer’s benefit problem which makes the best decision on price and time for buyer to purchase items, and the other one is a seller’s profit problem which decides an optimal sales strategy concerned with inventory control and discount schedule. The seller’s profit function consists of sales revenue and inventory holding cost functions. The two parts are closely related into each other with some related variables, so that any existing general solution methods can not be applied. Therefore, a simplified model with single seller and two customers in considered first, where demand for multiple units is allowed to each customer within a time limit. Therewith, the model is generalized for a n-customer-classes problem. To solve the proposed n-customer-set problem, a dynamic programming algorithm is derived. In the proposed dynamic programming algorithm, an intermediate profit function is used, which is computed in case of a fixed initial inventory level and then adjusted in searching for an optimal inventory level. This leads to an optimal sales strategy for a seller, which can derive an optimal decision on both an initial inventory level and a discount schedule, in $O(n^2 )$ time. This result can be used for some extended problems with a small customer set and a short selling period, including sales strategy for department stores, Dutch auction for items with heavy holding cost, open tender of materials, quantity-limited sales, and cooperative buying in the on/off markets.