Over the past week, working at Loft, still both in their Rittenhouse and University City locations, I have found my mind combing over the same retail-related problem over and over again--back stock. It is something I have found to spark interest in me beforehand but lately, switching from summer to pre-fall wear, I cannot seem to get it out of my head.
There is a double-edged sword that comes with back stock. Realistically, you cannot have your stock on the sales floor all at one moment. It is only natural that you have to keep inventory in some sort of back closet, basement, or other storage area that allows you to properly sort and access easily when needed to. However, the con to carrying products that do not initially make it to the floor is that the never do make it to the floor. They have a harder time ridding themselves of the title "back stock." The reason for this is simple. Retail is a hidden and complicated network that works its best to appear seamless and put-together at the forefront to customers. But nothing is ever perfect in the retail world, whether it is under-staffing, an unexpected rush, or, just simply put, too many tasks and too little time and employees. With this, it is unrealistic to stay on top of replenishing inventory regularly, especially when there are more pressing things to do, which is almost always. I have seen multiple times over, merchandise sit in the back of the store completely untouched.
A lot of this stems from the product itself. Popular items usually do not last long in back stock as one would expect. When running dry on the floor, popular products are more likely to be asked about by clients. However, this does not necessarily mean that the items untouched in inventory are unpopular. Many are overlooked. Especially when turning over seasons, as we are now, more merchandise is marked down to put in the sale section, while new full-price merchandise is brought in. This means moving what was priorly taking up the majority of the store's space and squeezing it into a section that is approximately one-sixth of the store with the prior sale merchandise that already resides there. This being said, you do a size run, leaving 2-3 sizes, depending on space available, on the floor, and back stock the rest of it with the intention of bringing it to the floor later. However, it builds up. Eventually there are more markdowns or a busy month or some other sort of distraction that does not allow time for replenishing, and next thing, there is more sale inventory being stored in the back than new full-price merchandise, meaning it is not selling. Again, a common problem with this is being overlook. Either a salesperson does not realize there is sale back stock and says what is on the floor is what we carry or the customer just assumes so, being that it is the sale section, leaving an abundance of merchandise completely untouched season after season after season.
So, is there a solution? Or do we just need to come to terms that it is unrealistic to stay on top of replenishing stock? While condensing the Petites Sale section in Rittenhouse a week and a half ago, I could not help but cringe at how much merchandise would likely get stored and forgotten, leaving me ultimately brainstorm a solution. In today's technology-dependent world, there is a solution. We are already more than halfway to it, too. SKUs allow companies to keep track of what a store has sold, what is still in stock, what a store is unable to sell, and so much more. Through SKUs and style numbers, there are already a number of networks that allow you to look at the register if your store or another store currently has an item and polls overnight for what's been sold and what has not. The next step to this is monitoring inventory in a single store, both on the floor and not. I believe in a system that allows the employee to scan stock as it arrives and indicate whether that specific SKU lives on the floor or in the back. The system allows you to keep three of each size on the floor at a time, a number I find ideal in a size run. The final--and most crucial--part of this system is it's role in replenishment. Overnight, while polling inventory for corporate, it would poll for managers' use also. In the morning, if needed, but not every day, when opening, the manager would open to a notification or notifications alerting the manager to replenish the floor with a specific quantity, size, and style of an item.
I believe this kind of system is not hard to accomplish, especially with the different type of networks I have seen so far at Loft between our own Style Finder and online orders that come through the store. My idea is ultimately a combination of what already exists. In the end, this keeps the store stock balanced (not too much on the floor and none forgotten) and from needing to hire an employee solely for stock purposes. All in all, an achievable solution to an easily fixable problem.
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