Firms in service and make-to-order manufacturing industries often quote lead times and prices to customers. We define uniform quotation mode (UQM) as the strategy where a firm offers a single lead time and price quotation, and differentiated quotation mode (DQM) is where a firm offers a menu of...

Retailers often face a newsvendor problem, i.e., they must order their inventory prior to a short selling period with uncertain demand. The uncertainty can be reduced by advance selling because not only are advance orders certain, but the remaining demand can be better forecasted. Consumers,...

Advance selling through pre-orders is a strategy to transfer inventory risk from a retailer to consumers. A newsvendor retailer can have three strategies to choose from: no advance selling allowed (NAS), moderate advance selling with a moderate discount for pre-orders (MAS), and deep advance...

Blind boxes (also called mystery boxes, gift boxes, or opaque boxes) are relatively recent concepts by retailers such as Birchbox and Stichfix. The distinguishing feature of a blind box is that its content remains uncertain until the customer purchases the box and opens it. This paper examines a...