Supply chain design and analysis: An empirical research related Vietnam’s consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry

This paper intends to empirically establish the supply chain design dimensions that influence the ability of retailers in Vietnam’s consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry to perform effectively with resilience. It further examines the extent of supply chain design dimensions impacting the variance on resilience in this industry. The study surveyed managers and supervisors of major Vietnam supermarkets within the CPG industry and employed univariate and multivariate methods to analyze the data collected. The paper established that technology advancement, economic influence, environmental changes, desired supply chain outcomes, and transport networks are the supply chain design dimensions with the most impact on the capability of the retail industry to perform efficiently and effectively with resilience. Furthermore, the paper revealed that transport networks, as an integral part of retail industry, impact the most on the variance of resilience for product availability. The findings imply that, despite the susceptibility to external and internal disruptions, performance and operations with resilience resonate with proper investments in technology, the available capacity under turbulent economic behavior, and a transport network for better customer experience. The paper further acknowledges the disruptive environmental changes, desired supply chain outcomes, and the need for a supply chain design for resilience in the retail industry.

Effects of Income Distribution Changes on Assortment Size in the Mainstream Grocery Channel

The authors study the effect of changes in the United States income distribution on assortment size in the mainstream grocery channel. Census demographics for 1,711 counties are matched to local assortment data from Nielsen in 944 grocery product categories from 2007 to 2013. The authors show that holding other demographics constant, assortment size increases with higher average income but decreases with greater income dispersion. This pattern holds for several specifications of assortments at the local level: the number of category Universal Product Codes (UPCs), number of brands, number of products per brand, and horizontal and vertical dimensions of assortments. The results suggest that increased income dispersion (holding other factors constant) reduces both horizontal and vertical differentiation. The effect sizes are similar for private labels and branded products, but large brands lose proportionally more UPCs than small brands when income dispersion rises. Potential mechanisms underlying the results are also explored, with evidence that a hollowing out of the middle class along with Engel’s law of expenditure explain a significant portion of this effect. The findings also offer insights for consumer packaged goods manufacturers that might help them allocate resources to expand shelf presence or defend current positions. This paper was accepted by Matthew Shum, marketing.

Application of Bioplastic Packaging In Industry

Current conventional plastic is favored due to its affordable price and desirable properties however the major drawback is its non biodegradable properties which lead to environmental pollution. Taking into consideration the issues of non renewable resources, there is where bioplastic were introduce. According to European bioplastic, bioplastic is defined as material produced from biobased, biodegradable or both properties. Bioplastic is coming from renewable resources which can be used to reduce the plastic waste problem. Recently, the existence of bioplastic became one of the promising technologies in various industries especially in packaging industry. This review paper is highlight include the bioplastic packaging application (food and beverages, healthcare, cosmetic and personal care and consumer packaged goods) in industry for 4 types of bioplastic (PLA, PCL, Starch based and PHAs).

Explaining Consumer Heterogeneity in Structural State-Dependence

Consumers are heterogeneous in their inertial responses to previous consumptions. Information on consumers’ structural state-dependence is valuable for evaluating consumers’ habit-forming strength and thus can be used for encouraging more sustainable consumption. Conventional methods of estimating such effects are complex and require repeated purchase data, which is difficult to obtain when consumers are inexperienced in buying sustainable products. In this paper, we utilize consumers’ previous switch behaviour data and investigate whether it can explain heterogeneous state-dependence effects. We demonstrate this in consumer-packaged goods markets using scanner datasets. Consumers’ normalized brand switches in a different product category several years ago are used to measure inter-temporal preference variations that are stable and are independent of products and markets. Accounting for household characteristics, we find that some variation in switch behaviour is highly stable: it explains a significant portion of consumers’ structural state-dependence in the market under investigation. Therefore, consumers’ switch tendencies can be structural to their preference. The finding suggests that incorporating consumers’ switch behaviour from other choice domains can be a simple and effective method of understanding the heterogeneous effects behind habit formation. Our constructed measure has broad implications in shifting consumer behaviour to be more sustainable.