Investigating the Effects of Daily Inventory Record Inaccuracy in Multichannel Retailing

Inventory record inaccuracy (IRI) challenges multichannel retailers in fulfilling both brick-and-mortar and direct channel demands from their distribution centers. The nature and damaging effects of IRI largely go unnoticed because retailers assume daily IRI remains stable over time within the replenishment cycle. While research shows that a high level of IRI is damaging, in reality the level of IRI can change every day. We posit that daily IRI variation increases the uncertainty in the system to negatively affect inventory and service levels. Our research uses data collected daily from a multichannel retailer to ground a discrete-event simulation experiment. Going beyond testing just the level of IRI, we evaluate daily IRI variation\u27s impact on operating performance. What we find in our empirical data challenges extant assumptions regarding the characteristics of IRI. In addition, our simulation results reveal that daily IRI variation has a paradoxical effect: it increases inventory levels while also decreasing service levels. Moreover, we also reveal that brick-and-mortar and direct channels are impacted differently. Our findings show that assumptions and practices that ignore daily IRI variation need revising. For managers, we demonstrate how periods of multiday counting help assess their daily IRI variation and indicate what the causes may be

Customer use of virtual channels in multi-channel services: does type of activity matter?

This paper examines whether customer use of virtual channels varies with the type of service activities (e.g. information search, transactions) they engage in. Based on data from a multichannel bank, we first investigate the impact of customer distance to the nearest branch on the degree of use of virtual channels (internet and phone, aggregated), for different types of activities. Second, when customers do resort to virtual channels to conduct activities, we look at their relative channel preferences (internet vs. phone) for different types of activities. The results inform design decisions about which activities to offer through virtual channels.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Service Delivery Across Multiple Direct Channels: Is More Better?

Direct channels exhibit different capabilities in delivering services. Phone-based channels, for instance, provide customers with a more personal level of contact with service providers, relative to the level of contact available through Internet-based channels. When relying on phone-based or Internet-based channels, service providers need to decide which interactive activities will be offered in each channel and whether for each activity a single or a multichannel strategy will be adopted. We develop and discuss several hypotheses about the conditions supporting the convergence of customer preferences for one direct channel over another and the implementation of a single-channel strategy

Understanding Behavioral Sources of Process Variation Following Enterprise System Deployment

This paper extends the current understanding of the time-sensitivity of intent and usage following large-scale IT implementation. Our study focuses on perceived system misfit with organizational processes in tandem with the availability of system circumvention opportunities. Case study comparisons and controlled experiments are used to support the theoretical unpacking of organizational and technical contingencies and their relationship to shifts in user intentions and variation in work-processing tactics over time. Findings suggest that managers and users may retain strong intentions to circumvent systems in the presence of perceived task-technology misfit. The perceived ease with which this circumvention is attainable factors significantly into the timeframe within which it is attempted, and subsequently impacts the onset of deviation from prescribed practice and anticipated dynamics

Competition and Coopetition among Social Media Content

Social media platforms are characterized by an immense volume of content that exists concurrently. In this study, we analyze competition and coopetition among social media content. Under a competitive dynamic, the diffusion of one piece of content deters the diffusion of another. Alternatively, a coopetition dynamic means that the spread of a social media post augments the diffusion of another. The purpose of our study is to investigate whether competition or coopetition emerges among social media content and identify determinants of the direction of the interaction. To that end, we formulated a generalized self-exciting point process model and evaluated the model using Twitter data. We generally find that a competitive relationship exists among content, but, interestingly, some content experienced a cooperative interplay. In particular, we observe an asymmetry between large and small content producers in that coopetition favors content published by large producers

Internet book retailing and supply chain management: an analytical study of inventory location speculation and postponement

Internet retailing models support supply chains where consumer order locations are decoupled from inventory locations. In this setting, retailers dynamically consider inventory location speculation and postponement to fulfill their orders. Particularly, retailers can manage inventory to fulfill orders through two opposing strategies: in-stock inventory and drop-shipping. This paper extends the supply chain management literature by modeling Internet retailers' decisions to balance their offerings between these two strategies. The results show how retailers depend more on both of these strategies as their market share and product popularity increase. Thus, both inventory management strategies may be considered simultaneously to better manage Internet retailers' inventory.Inventory management Electronic commerce Postponement

The adoption of inventory postponement and speculation: An empirical assessment of oligopolistic Internet retailers

Unlike traditional retailers, which use inventory speculation for all their merchandise, Internet book retailers selectively use inventory postponement for specific merchandise items to lower their inventory costs. We develop and test hypotheses that describe merchandise determinants of inventory postponement and speculation at two oligopolistic retailers: Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com. We find that merchandise popularity raises both firms' likelihood of inventory speculation. Furthermore, merchandise vintage affects negatively both firms' likelihood of inventory speculation. Merchandise price affects negatively the likelihood of inventory speculation for Amazon.com and positively for Barnesandnoble.com. This may be due to conditions within Barnesandnoble.com, which operates physical and Internet channels.Electronic commerce Inventory management Postponement analysis Empirical study

Enterprise-wide adoption patterns of inventory management practices and information systems

Inventory management Enterprise-wide information systems Empirical data