An Overview on Omnichannel Inventory Strategy under Uncertain Demand

Abstract

With the improvement of people’s living standards, there are higher requirements for product quality and personalization. At the same time, the development of science and technology, such as big data, cloud computing, VR, etc., provides technical support to meet the higher shopping needs of consumers. Promoted by these two factors, omnichannel came into being. In the omnichannel model, a single demand may exist in multiple channels, which increases the difficulty of retailer demand forecasting and brings challenges to the inventory management of omnichannel retailers. This article sorts out and analyzes the changes in omnichannel consumer demand, the relationship between channels, and the related research on multi-channel and omnichannel inventory strategies, and finds that there are few studies on omnichannel inventory strategies. At present, the research on omnichannel inventory strategy is mostly based on a specific omnichannel model inventory strategy research. The characteristics of omnichannel such as changes in demand and channel relationship have not been included in the relevant research. The characteristics of omnichannel such as changes in demand and channel relationship have not been included in the relevant research. This paper proposes that future research can pay more attention to the impact of the new characteristics of the omnichannel model on inventory management, as well as the challenges of inventory management caused by the competition and cooperation between channels, and provide a scientific basis for omnichannel inventory management.