Abstract
It is well-known that if a customer follows a longer path while shopping then the expected value of his/her purchased amount is increased; therefore the sale amount of the supermarket can be increased. This study deals with a new problem: how to re-layout a supermarket the impulsive purchases of the average customer are maximized. Supermarket is a shop of limited size and is definitely smaller than the hypermarket. It is assumed that it is located in a living area and customers know its layout well. In many countries, there are plenty of shops like that. In a case study 27 clusters of customers are defined based on 13,300 real buying. To assume that actors behave in a rational way, is traditional in analysis of economic problems. Rationality means in that case that customers choose the shortest possible path according to their a priori purchase plan. Thus, traveling salesman problem (TSP) can be used to simulate the customer’s shopping path. Dantzig–Fulkerson–Johnson formulation of TSP is used to maximize the shortest traveled path of each customer type by rearranging the items of the supermarket as a max–min problem. The computational experiences on the case study show that the total distance is increased in the new layout proposed by the model.
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Appendix
Appendix
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Customer 1: Fruit and vegetable—Milk and milk products—Canned vegetables—Household paper—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Soup, spices, canned food—Chips, flour and sugar—Fresh meat—Coffee, tea and cocoa.
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Customer 2: Milk and milk products—Sausage—Canned vegetables—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Soup, spices, canned food—Chips, flour and sugar—Praline, bonbon and biscuits—Cheese—Cakes.
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Customer 3: Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Chocolate, rice, salt and cornflakes—Cakes.
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Customer 4: Milk and milk products—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Chips, flour and sugar—Cakes.
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Customer 5: Bread and bakery—Wine, beer and alcohol—Pressing (fruit).
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Customer 6: Milk and milk products—Bread and bakery.
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Customer 7: Chips, flour and sugar.
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Customer 8: Fruit and vegetable—Sausage—Canned vegetables—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Soup, spices, canned food—Praline, bonbon and biscuits—Fresh meat—Cheese—Cakes.
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Customer 9: Bread and bakery.
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Customer 10: Milk and milk products.
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Customer 11: Milk and milk products—Sweets and cakes—Chocolate, rice, salt and cornflakes—Chips, flour and sugar—Praline, bonbon and biscuits—Cakes.
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Customer 12: Milk and milk products—Sausage—Sweets and cakes—Chocolate, rice, salt and cornflakes—Cakes.
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Customer 13: Sausage—Bread and bakery—Chocolate, rice, salt and cornflakes.
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Customer 14: Milk and milk products—Sausage—Bread and bakery.
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Customer 15: Milk and milk products—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Soup, spices, canned food—Chips, flour and sugar—Cakes—Wine, beer and alcohol—Pressings (fruit).
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Customer 16: Bread and bakery—Wine, beer and alcohol—Pressings (fruit).
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Customer 17: Fruit and vegetable—Milk and milk products—Sausage—Other chemicals—Household paper—Detergents—Bread and bakery—Soup, spices, canned food—Chips, flour and sugar—Fresh meat.
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Customer 18: Milk and milk products—Sausage—Other chemicals—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Chocolate, rice, salt and cornflakes—Praline, bonbon and biscuits—Cakes.
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Customer 19: Milk and milk products—Sausage—Canned vegetables—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Soup, spices, canned food—Chips, flour and sugar—Frozen food—Coffee, tea and cocoa—Cakes.
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Customer 20: Sausage—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Frozen food—Cakes.
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Customer 21: Milk and milk products—Oil and vinegar—Bread and bakery.
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Customer 22: Fruit and vegetable—Milk and milk products—Sausage—Canned vegetables—Oil and vinegar—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Soup, spices, canned food—Chips, flour and sugar - Coffee, tea and cocoa.
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Customer 23: Cosmetics—Bread and bakery.
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Customer 24: Milk and milk products—Sausage—Canned vegetables—Cosmetics—Household paper—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Soup, spices, canned food—Chips, flour and sugar—Coffee, tea and cocoa.
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Customer 25: Milk and milk products—Household paper—Detergents—Bread and bakery.
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Customer 26: Milk and milk products—Sausage—Mineral water —Canned vegetables—Bread and bakery—Sweets and cakes—Chips, flour and sugar—Cakes.
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Customer 27: Mineral water—Bread and bakery.
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Boros, P., Fehér, O., Lakner, Z. et al. Modeling supermarket re-layout from the owner’s perspective. Ann Oper Res 238, 27–40 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-015-1986-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10479-015-1986-2