A Warehousing Approach to Distribution and Retailing Efficiency Improvement: A China Targeted Analysis

Abstract

Partly due to loose monetary policy to curb the economic downturn caused by financial tsunami in 2008, China along with many other countries including USA has rolled out stimulus plans pushing economic development. While the stimulus has promoted the development of China's domestic market, it has resulted in serious problem of inflation. In her efforts to control the inflation, China's government has encouraged retailers to engage directly with goods producers to reduce the cost in the middle including distribution, transportation and other retailing cost. In this paper, we analyze the role of warehouse in this transition. We argue that warehouse could provide additional opportunities to tackle the inflation by linking the suppliers and consumers. The warehousing scheme is then introduced with risk analysis. Evaluation and potential adoption analysis is also conducted.