A problem of forming optimal assortment and inventory in retail trade in terms of uncertainty

The article studies a two-stage problem of controlling assortment and inventory of retailers in conditions of uncertainty. At the first stage the authors determine a range of products and their volumes, which can give the maximum profit to the retail enterprise. At the second stage, the obtained range of products and their volumes help to find out the optimal strategy of goods stock replenishment on the horizon of management. The article shows that different situations in the inventory management can be considered as Queueing problems. There have been developed mathematical models of the problem of inventory control based on Queueing theory: a model with continuous replenishment of goods when it appears not profitable to order bulk goods, and small piece products are more desirable; and a model of restocking goods in batches.