In May 2020 I published a short article reflecting upon retail loss prevention in a time of COVID-19. In that article I hypothesised that that we were likely to see four phases affecting the retail sector: the Pandemic Panic-buying Period (Grocery in particular being adversely impacted by panic buying); Pandemic Paralysis Period (most non-grocery closed); […]
Retailers rely on accurate inventory records to execute efficiently, reduce expenses, and more importantly increase sales. Retailers know that shrink is a major contributor to inaccurate inventory records - it is impossible to maintain accuracy for items which leave the store via bad actors. However, there are many more ways for inventory records to become […]
As we celebrate our first 50 years, I would like to take a moment to reflect on our previous five decades, and thank our retail customers worldwide who have partnered with us over the years. Contract Dataflo, Inc. was founded on July 20, 1970 by H. E. Billings, Jr. The company became Contract Datascan, Inc. […]
Retailers – do your omnichannel strategies suffer from inaccurate inventory records? Of course they do, and the increasing importance of BOPIS, click & collect, curbside pickup, “retail-to-go” and ship-from-store make inventory record accuracy an important cornerstone for omnichannel success. In a previous article we found that truing up your inventory records with more frequent counts […]
We now know that counting more often lifts sales by up to 14% (see “Do Inaccurate Inventory Records Really Impact Sales?”). Exactly how does this work? By increasing product availability and customer satisfaction. Retailers strive to have the right product in the right place at the right price and with the right promotion. Customers return […]
For retailers, counting stock is a chore and requires a sizable investment in labor. Aside from annual audit requirements, is stock counting really necessary? Are accurate inventory records really that important? Since 2018 my role at Datascan has had me exploring the concept of inventory record accuracy. I’ve long searched for a reputable study on the sales […]
Does inventory record accuracy differ by Market Segment? You bet it does! Many factors are responsible for differences in inventory record accuracy between market segments. Higher value items are more attractive theft targets, but also justify higher investment in anti-theft controls. Items with high sales velocity experience increased transactions (receipts, sales, returns, transfers, and adjustments), each of […]
In a previous article we discussed how Datascan’s preferred inventory accuracy percentage calculation relies on the absolute unit difference to describe how far the inventory records are from reality. The ECR Community and the RFID industry prefer a formula based on SKU integrity, which treats all inventory unit adjustments with the same weight. In this article, we will […]
Inventory accuracy percentages can be misleading! We already know that inventory accuracy is a very important metric for retailers, measuring how closely system records reflect the actual units found in stores. But did you also know that a straight inventory accuracy percentage stating that inventory records are 75% accurate is missing a very important piece […]
