Field Research and Managerial Implications

As seen in the quantitative analysis, higher ASR systems can significantly improve retailers’ inventory performance, reduce OOS incidents, and show more constant results. Yet it was also found that badly or crudely parameterised systems will not deliver the desired results. As stated by the contingency theory, the context of the company is decisive in determining the success of an automatic replenishment system. Therefore, in order to be able to give recommendations to practitioners it is necessary to examine in detail how retailers successfully introduced ASR systems and in which fields they can still improve their operations. In this chapter, the case studies of four retailers are depicted. For each company, a description of their replenishment processes, the organizational changes and personnel issues linked to the ASR introduction are highlighted as well as the outcome of ASR system’s introduction.