Optimal ordering policy for inventory mechanism with a stochastic short-term price discount

Abstract

This paper considers an inventory mechanism in which the supplier may provide a short-term price discount to the retailer at a future time with some uncertainty. To maximize the retailer's profit in this setting, we establish an optimal replenishment and stocking strategy model. Based on the retailer's inventory cost-benefit analysis, we present a closed-form solution for the inventory model and provide an optimal ordering policy to the retailer. Numerical experiments and numerical sensitivity are given to provide some high insights to the inventory model.