Strategies to improve customer service in delivery time slot management

Abstract In several online retail contexts, such as grocery retailing, customers have to be present at the moment of delivery, that is, an attended home delivery service is in place. This requirement adds new challenges this channel, often leading narrow profitability. From operations perspective, performed with retailer offering multiple time slots for customer choose from. Retailers target a cost‐efficient process also accounts customers' preferences by properly managing options show customers, slot management. study analyzes dynamic slotting problem, choosing best each customer, which close many practical cases pursuing orientation. We two strategies improve while satisfying cost‐efficiency goals: (i) enforcing constraint on minimum number or percentage and (ii) integrating days when tackling challenging problem. Our results under conditions these proposed can lead win‐win situations both profit.