Several years ago, I walked into a c-store with a company owner and, to his surprise, a soft drink display in prime space had been replaced with a rack of some of the tackiest baseball caps anyone could imagine.
“Who bought 500 baseball caps,” the owner asked the store manager. “I did,” the manager proudly responded, “because the vendor gave me a great deal on them… only $5 per cap!”
The owner just rolled his eyes, turned to me and said, “How soon can we install your software?”
He had 10 stores and was doing the math. The owner understood his manager had just tied up $2,500 in unauthorized inventory that would take forever to sell.
This is an extreme case, to be sure, but chances are you have had a similar experience. Maybe it was the DSD delivery driver who tells your store manager the new strawberry-mocha-energy drink is a sure seller or the extra 100 cases of beer are needed for the long weekend (even though it’s Easter weekend, not 4th of July).
Do you have unauthorized or slow moving inventory in your stores? Do you know what is selling and more importantly what is not selling? Why not? It’s your money!
While we can appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit of the store manager, in a time of escalating costs of food and fuel prices, inventory management is critical to remain in business.
What is the solution? Try CMI's centralized pricebook and inventory management system, PriceBook Manager, which authorizes products and product pricing for each store. For more information, click here.
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