1 Introduction and Historical Background

摘要

For as long as anyone can remember, commerce has presented the opportunity for buyers to receive a lower price for purchasing a large quantity. Even in the foregone days of bartering, one can imagine Farmer Jones paying fewer chickens per cow to Farmer Brown if he bought 10 cows. Today, consumers cannot walk into most retail stores without seeing at least some sort of quantity discount opportunity. Even fast-food restaurants encourage us to eat and drink more by "upsizing" orders for just a few coins more.