Optimisation of a multilevel logistics network for prepositioned warehouses under an omni-channel retail model

Abstract

A new omni-channel retailing mode, prepositioned warehouses, which developed rapidly in China during the COVID-19 pandemic, was introduced, and a three-level logistics network optimisation model for agricultural products was presented. This study takes into account the characteristics of the omni-channel retail model, which combines the two delivery methods of vehicle delivery and consumer in-store purchase, adds the freshness penalty incurred by fresh agricultural products in the storage process of the prepositioned warehouse, and establishes a mathematical optimisation model of the three-stage logistics network of the prepositioned warehouse that meets the characteristics of omni-channel retailing on the basis of the classical EOQ inventory model. In this work, the shortest delivery time and the smallest total cost are set as the optimisation objectives, and the multi-objective problem is transformed into a single objective through normalisation and linear weighting methods to obtain a mixed-integer optimisation model. This paper solves the problems of site selection for prepositioned warehouses, merchandise replenishment strategies, and optimisation of delivery routes based on data from real cases. Additionally, through sensitivity analysis, the management inspiration of the enterprise is obtained.