Articulating the fashion product life-cycle

The purpose of this paper is to describe a framework for predicting the seasonal demand for fashion based on the Bass Diffusion model of demand and the Newsvendor inventory management model. Sales and inventory management simulations based on these models have been implemented in the Julia programming language to demonstrate how theoretical models can be made operational using open-source software for the benefit of small- to medium-scale enterprises with limited resources.

The paper employs simulation models implemented in the Julia programming languages to explore the use of theoretical models of demand on the seasonal management of fashion inventory.

The research demonstrates that further exploration of the framework described is worth undertaking.

The paper employs theoretical models and is therefore conceptual in its outlook. Nonetheless it provides insights that could be explored further if real-world sales data would become available.

The framework provides simple models for predicting the demand for fashion that allows “what-if” scenarios to be constructed based on the manipulation of a few model parameters.

The framework provides low-cost analytical tools that support small fashion enterprises with regards to market understanding and the operational management requirements necessary to support those markets.

The analytical use of the Bass model of demand with the Newsvendor model of inventory management within a fashion context.