The Spread of Scarcity: An Empirical Analysis of Intra-Firm Product Substitutability in Fashion Retailing
Mehmet Gümüş - McGill University
February 19, Friday, 16:00
The seminar will be via Zoom.
This study offers an empirical investigation of product shortages on sales in neighboring outlets in the setting of a multi-store fast fashion retailing chain. We use a unique dataset consisting of the weekly sales and inventory levels for all the products sold by this retailer across more than 300 stores. We perform various specifications that test for the impact of stock-outs in a store chain structure. Our analysis reveals that sales for a particular item at a focal store increases when that same item experiences stock-outs in neighboring stores, especially so for neighboring stores that are physically closer to the store experiencing the stock-out. Following these empirical results, we produce some managerial insights by further exploring the data. First, we show that inferred product substitutability patterns across stores vary depending on the location type, in that product substitutability is more pronounced the outlet facing the stock-out is located on streets as compared with outlets located in malls. Second, we investigate the revenue impact of making inventory allocation decisions using the neighboring outlets' stock-out information.
(Joint work with Elçin Ergin and Nathan Yang)
Mehmet Gumus is Professor of Operations Management at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. In his research, he focuses on supply chain management, dynamic pricing, and risk management. His papers are accepted for publication in Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, Marketing Science and Production and Operations Management. He serves as SE for Production and Operations Management, AE for Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and IIE Transactions. In 2017, he developed a new specialized Masters Program in Management Analytics (MMA) and since its inauguration, he is managing the MMA program as the Academic Director. In 2015, he co-founded Plannica Inc. to develop an integrated Decision Support System for the supply chain planning solution and implemented Plannica to various industries.
