A multi-period multi-product stochastic inventory problem with order-based loan*

This paper investigates a multi-period multi-product stochastic inventory problem in which cash-constrained online retailer can leverage order-based loans provided by some Chinese e-commerce platforms to speed up its cash recovery for deferred revenue. Sample average approximation (SAA) and moment-matching scenario tree are adopted solve this multi-stage with the objective of maximising retailer's expected profit over planning horizon. We conduct numerical tests based on crawling real data from an store. The results show that solutions two modelling approaches very close. Moreover, tends use when initial available is limited or it facing long revenue delaying length. Practitioners make techniques estimate whether beneficial apply loan.