Quick response in fast fashion retail: An optimization supply chain responsiveness model

Abstract

Fast fashion is a highly competitive field of fashion, where: frequent new trends, unexpected customer demand, and a large inventory of items are the main features of the field. From operations perspective, decision makers should demonstrate a high responsiveness flexibility, so that they can be in line with the fast fashion speed. In this context, our main goal in this article is to present a quick response business model: it is an operation mathematical model, that allows international retailer to correct the initial replenishment decisions, according to the market responsiveness and the latest sales data, in order to re-define continuously and dynamically the replenishment policies, in line with the fast fashion market speed. Our mathematical model is an integer linear program, that we resolved using IBM Cplex optimizer. The model parameters are explained; experimental results within several instances are established and presented.