Joint Decision Making of Replenishment, Pricing, and Fresh Keeping Input in Fruit and Vegetable Cold Chain: Based on Markov Process

Abstract

Markov dynamic programming was used to analyze the effect of quality loss on the profit of the cold chain when the retailer’s demand was affected by random factors and the product can be put into appearance fresh-keeping, taking the retailer in the fruit and vegetable cold chain as the research object and aiming at maximizing the retailer’s profit in the unlimited sales period. It was found that the model can control the system profit fluctuation within the expected range by adjusting the relevant strategies when the initial inventory was fluctuated by random demand factors. The optimal strategies of replenishment, pricing, and preservation investment are closely related to the initial inventory. Sensitivity analysis shows that the optimal strategy and profit fluctuation range are closely related to the quality characteristics of quality loss and quantity loss. When the quality loss increases, retailers should reduce the amount of a single replenishment, invest in appearance preservation ahead of time, and raise prices. When the quantity loss increases, the retailer should reduce the quantity of a single replenishment.