Alibaba, which aims to build the future infrastructure of commerce, has designed many multiplatform retail business models. These range from mobile apps to social networking to brick-and-mortars and more. Alibaba’s merchandise covers general supplies to fresh produce. Each of these different channels and their products bring unique features regarding demand forecast, inventory management and recommendation systems. These challenges are being solved through a series of algorithms to align supply with demand. These algorithms have generated hundreds of millions of dollars of savings in shrinkage and inventory reductions and sustained revenue increase for Alibaba.
