We consider the problem of determining (for a short lifecycle) retail product initial and replenishment order quantities that minimize the cost of lost sales, back orders, and obsolete inventory. We model this problem as a two-stage stochastic dynamic program, propose a heuristic, establish...

In a merchandise depth test, a retail chain introduces new products at a small sample of selected stores for a short period prior to the primary selling season and uses the observed sales to forecast demand for the entire chain. We describe a method for resolving two key questions in merchandise...