RFID-Enabled Management of Highly-Perishable Inventory: A Markov Decision Process Approach for Grocery Retailers

Abstract

We address the challenge of managing perishable inventory. One study was conducted to analyze the effects of recapturing unsatisfied demand, and another to estimate improvements in operational metrics through delaying order placements. Our results indicate that significant profit improvements can be achieved under these scenarios, as evidenced by a greater than 30% median increase in profit margin.