The authors show that the current ASO can be enriched and extended by taking into account some extra crucial parameters which are based on the observed consumer behavior. In the current ASO systems, no distinction is made between perishable and non-perishable products, as it is primarily designed and used for the non-perishables. The incorporation of the obtained knowledge of the observed consumer buying behavior into the existing automated store ordering (ASO) systems is discussed. The key observation is that customers have a high willingness to substitute. Findings – The customer behavior with regard to perishables is observed to be different from that for the non-perishable items. Next to this, additional logistical information was measured on regular moments with respect to the shelf availability per stock-keeping unit during the day and to waste at the end of the day. Design/methodology/approach – Insights on how consumers behave when their preferred bread product is OOS are derived based on 3,800 customer interviews performed in three stores of a large Dutch grocery retail chain. The current paper on-hand extends these works towards perishable items with a focus on bakery bread.Ībstract = 'This paper aims to identify customer behavior with regard to out-of-stocks (OOS) of perishable products (focused on bakery bread) and the resulting inventory performance for these perishable products.

Originality/value – One common factor in the research papers published so far is that they primarily looked into the customer behavior for non-perishable items.

Next to this, additional logistical information was measured on regular moments with respect to the shelf availability per stock-keeping unit during the day and to waste at the end of the day.įindings – The customer behavior with regard to perishables is observed to be different from that for the non-perishable items.

This paper aims to identify customer behavior with regard to out-of-stocks (OOS) of perishable products (focused on bakery bread) and the resulting inventory performance for these perishable products.ĭesign/methodology/approach – Insights on how consumers behave when their preferred bread product is OOS are derived based on 3,800 customer interviews performed in three stores of a large Dutch grocery retail chain.

Perishable items