EVALUATION AND SELECTION OF A LOGISTICS PROCESS MANAGEMENT STRATEGY IN RETAIL USING A MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION-MAKING APPROACH

Abstract

The article substantiates the theoretical foundations for formulating a multi-criteria problem of evaluating and selecting logistics process management strategies in retail trade. Strategic decisions in retail logistics are shown to depend on a set of interrelated, multidirectional and partly conflicting criteria, including logistics service level, order cycle time, inventory turnover, stock-out frequency, total logistics costs, capital requirements, expected economic effect, environmental pressure, disruption risk and implementation duration. The study argues that determining the relative importance of criteria should be methodologically separated from ranking strategic alternatives. Accordingly, a theoretical sequence combining the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS), and the VIKOR compromise-ranking method is proposed. AHP structures the decision goal, criteria and alternatives, formalizes pairwise comparisons and verifies the consistency of expert judgments. TOPSIS evaluates alternatives through their simultaneous proximity to the positive ideal solution and remoteness from the negative ideal solution. VIKOR complements this assessment by searching for a compromise between overall group utility and the largest individual criterion regret. The formulas used in the three methods are systematized in a single table, with all indices, variables and parameters explained. Particular attention is paid to the methodological conditions that determine whether the procedures can be applied correctly: independence and measurability of criteria, explicit distinction between benefit and cost criteria, traceable expert judgments, normalization appropriate to each method, and verification of the acceptability and stability of a VIKOR compromise. The article emphasizes that a theoretical framework cannot establish a universal ranking of logistics strategies. Any final choice depends on the specific set of alternatives, the criteria system, information quality and the justification of stakeholder preferences. The proposed approach therefore serves as a conceptual and methodological basis for subsequent empirical testing using verified data from retail enterprises, without replacing observations with simulated numerical results.