The annual stocktake is a stressful time for store staff and management alike.
It happens only once a year, and all employees perform the unconventional task of counting products day and night. The retailer expects them to count accurately. We have to bear in mind that it is an impossible task to maintain the right level of attention and to count correctly during a long shift.
The nature of self-service stores brings with it a really high number of SKUs and quantities per employee, a challenging layout, constant problems with mixed shelves and lost barcodes.
But that's enough theory. Let me tell you a story.
But that's enough theory. Let me tell you a story.
The task of conducting an annual inventory was assigned to me when I first joined Metro in one of the stores, and over the years I stayed on it as Head of Store Operations in the country (also known as Central Inventory Leader) and later at global level (developing SOPs and a new mobile app for store inventory management). On the one hand, I liked the way of clear procedures and preparation of the activity.
On the one hand, many retail professionals are familiar with the really deep sickness of the stocktaking process. I'd like to tell you about it.
Once, the company's CEO was on a visit to the stores shortly before the start of the stocktaking process. He was totally shocked when, instead of walking around the store, he was able to walk through the shelves of several isles. There was literally nothing on the shelves. He sent a picture to the whole organization showing that most of the high shelves were completely empty. It was a scandal. Did anything change after that? A rhetorical question.
A painful memory was erased in the new year, and the same approach was once again in place. In order to minimise the effort of counting, the department managers reduced the quantities ordered a week before the stocktaking. The next year was no different, and the year after that.
Once I was in the office, I decided to fight this practice.
Once I was in the office, I decided to fight this practice.
Once I was in the office, I decided to fight this practice.
The sales situation was difficult and we were competing in a slowing economy. We could not afford to lose even one week of sales before and one week after the stocktaking.
I teamed up with the audit department, built a schedule of store checks and prepared a series of new reports showing the level of stock. Unfortunately, this year, as in previous years, the level of stock was clearly declining. The frontal attack on the problem had less than a moderate effect.
Over the next few years we changed the way we did the stocktaking, initially splitting the count into 2 nights (food and non-food nights), then later into 3 nights, combined with some IT tools and support improvements. This significantly reduced the manpower required for the stocktake and ultimately achieved our goal of minimising the negative impact on sales.
Why have I shared this?
Why have I shared this?
The practice of controlling the company's stock with an annual wall-to-wall inventory is a procedure that originated in good retail practice in the 20th century. With modern inventory control tools based on AI analytics, the annual stocktake is an outdated formality required by accounting and auditing firms. It doesn't add much value or improve stock accuracy figures. I'm much more in favor of a smart recount and a control of the issue based on AI models.
In conclusion, I highly recommend exploring Akuret Solutions, an innovative tool dedicated to routine inventory management. Akuret Solutions offers features that could have significantly streamlined our processes and improved accuracy.
For more information, please visit the Akuret Solutions website and read the profiles of Jesper and Daniel.
