In the GUN

In the GUN

n. Entered on the NEGATIVE ORDER WORKSHEET: “Is that already in the gun?” See GUN. See also BACK-STOCK, INVENTORY, OVERSTOCK.

Inventory

Inventory

n. 1. The total on-hand quantity of one or more ITEMS, up to the total of everything in the STORE. 2. See BACK-STOCK: “Put that in inventory.” See also PURGE. —v. 1. The act of enumerating such totals: “Next week we take inventory.” 2. More specifically, to mark CASES to indicate the quantity and REGULAR PRICE of the contents. E.g., 6 × 3.17 for “This case contains 6 units at $3.17 apiece.” “Did you inventory that? (I.e., mark quantity times price of contents on each and every one of the full and/or partial CASES returning to the BACKROOM on your RUNNER.)” See also CASE NOTATIONS.

NOTE: Inventory reminds me of Goldilocks and the Three Bears...

You don't want to have too much; too much and you've tied up a lot of money in stuff that's just sitting around in your BACK ROOM. Nothing gets sold out of the BACK ROOM, so that's a waste.

On the other hand, you don't want to have too little; too little, and you run out of things, disappoint the CUSTOMERS who otherwise would have bought what you don't have, so they go elsewhere, and you eventually may go out of business—um,... Not Good.

What you want is for your Inventory levels to be ju-s-t ri-g-h-t. Hence the system we have, where incoming ITEMS are WORKED to the SHELF, and slight excesses are managed as SPECIALS and OVERSTOCK.

Meanwhile, SALE ITEMS may rotate through DISPLAYS in a cascade of decreasing size from EVZ, FAST-WALL and END-CAPS, to 3-WAYS and WINGS and finally back down to the SHELF, with ITEMS being injected into this cycle at any point.

Orchestrating this ballet is the job of the GROCERY MANAGER, and the entire upwards chain of STORE management. Inventory control is a critical aspect of merchandising efforts everywhere, and a major field of study. We certainly can't do it justice here. Yet, we can note its importance and admire it.

Keeping Inventory levels generally low is A Very Good Thing, and has a very positive impact on the STORE'S overall profitability.

Inventory Day

Inventory Day

n. A reality check, or snapshot, where all STOCK on hand is counted and reconciled vs. the tallies on record.

NOTE: Starting a few days ahead of time, every full and every partial CASE in the BACK ROOM must get marked with the quantity inside, and the ITEM'S REGULAR PRICE, e.g., 9 x 0.67 or 48 x 1.39, and so on. On the day itself, these all get tallied up by a special outside INVENTORY TEAM.

Item

Item

n. 1. A single unit quantity of something that's for sale: “Seven items or less.” 2. The aggregate class of any such thing: “I can't find this item on the shelf.”