Solving the location problem of front distribution center for omni-channel retailing

Abstract

Consumer demand and retailing models nowadays are being upgraded more frequently. More and more retailers are switching to the Omni-channel retailing model. Choosing a reasonable location for a front distribution center (FDC) helps control an enterprise's cost and improves its service level. This is especially true in the existence of fierce competition. In this paper, two important and contradictory objectives are proposed for the first time in the FDC location problem: minimizing the distribution costs from the facility and minimizing the fixed cost of the facility's location. For these objectives, a bi-objective programming model is established by considering the factors of a facility's capacity, demand and rent fluctuation. Meanwhile, the FDC location problem has been solved by compromising programming and elite set multi-objective simulated annealing algorithm respectively. Taking the FDC locations set of an e-commerce enterprise in a region of Beijing as an empirical sample, this paper uses the above algorithms to re-plan the FDC locations of the enterprise. This algorithm provides support for retail enterprises by helping find the best FDC location. Based on the empirical results, some comments and future research directions are also proposed.