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Revenue Management Appendix 14A. Revenue Management is the problem of the disappearing inventory. Managers must be flexible to change their predicted sales by market segment as information arrives.
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Revenue ManagementAppendix 14A • Revenue Management is the problem of the disappearing inventory. • Managers must be flexible to change their predicted sales by market segment as information arrives. • Airlines price discriminates between business and non-business travelers. If too few business travelers have booked tickets compared to the amount expected, then more non-business tickets should be released. 2005 South-Western Publishing
Should we Overbook? • Managers may authorize reservation clerks to sell more seats ( or more rooms) than are available. • The greater the overbooking, the lower are the costs of spoilage. • Spoilageis an inventory NOT sold. If capacity is large, an airline or hotel will have high spoilage. • The greater the overbooking, the greater are the costs of spillage, making customers unhappy by finding that they have no seat or reservation.
Spillage & Spoilage With Random Demand • Figure 14A.1 on page 639 • Demand shifts between low and high • At each price, there is a chance for unsold capacity known as spoilageif QLow occurs. • Or disappointed customers who can’t be satisfied known as spillage if QHigh occurs. Customer demand distributions at each price P Low Demand High Demand Mean Demand Spoilage Spillage QLowQMeanQHigh
Spillage • Spillage is the excess demand that cannot be met. • If the service industry has low capacity, the spillage will be great • Customers leave the hotel or airline unable to get a room or an airplane seat. • How do airlines handle times when they have overbooked a flight and everyone shows up? • Does it make sense that they ask for volunteers to wait for a later plane? • Does it make sense for them to give free tickets to those who are bumped?
Cross-Functional Revenue Management Capacity Planning • The optimal plan will require pricing, marketing, demand forecasting, and capital budgeting – all cross-functional thinking • The issue at the center is which orders to accept and refuse? • A larger capacity reduces spillage, but increases spoilage • A lower price reduces spoilage but increases spillage Account Management Scheduling Order Acceptance & Refusal Process Pricing Customers Demand estimation & forecasting Figure 14A.2 page 641
Optimal Overbooking Figure 14.7 Spillage • Spillage and spoilage costsgo in opposite directions, the sum of these costs has a minimum with the optimal amount of overbooking. • Since business travelers tend to a large extent to be repeat customers, the cost of spillage (oversells) may be very high. • The optimal amount of overbooking for this market segment may well be lower than for non-business clients. Total Cost optimal Spoilage 100% 110% 120% ... Percent Overbooked