>>just three lines 100% available
Another week, another report on retailers’ problems with on-shelf availability. This time it comes from ECR UK, the pan-industry body, which has published the first findings of its survey looking at the availability, or otherwise, of 200 key grocery products.
There’s lots of fascinating stuff in this new report. Whether you were the best performer in the survey (with a 98.3% availability record - well done!) or the worst retailer (just 91.7% available - shame on you!), I am sure the survey made for uncomfortable reading. I think the most startling statistic is that just three lines - own label baked beans, loose tomatoes and onions - were 100% available. That reflects really badly on the entire industry.
When we last quizzed suppliers about this issue, all of them felt that retailers were not doing enough to tackle the problems that caused out of stocks. And the ECR UK survey would appear to back up their point of view.
I realise we have been banging on about this issue for two years or more - and I know some retailers wish we would stop. But what they forget is that the team on The Grocer are shoppers as well as journalists - so we have first-hand experience of how bad the problems can be and how intensely frustrating it is for consumers when products are out of stock. Until things get better, we’ll keep on reporting this issue.
So what’s to be done? Well, the experts tell us there is no single reason why products do not get on to shop shelves. Often rotten forecasting is to blame, occasionally it’s problems in the last 50 yards and, yes, suppliers will sometimes admit that poor service levels on their part can also contribute to the problem.
Despite widespread frustration at the apparent lack of progress in tackling these issues, there does seem to be plenty of work under way across the industry.
Next week, for instance, we will take a close look at a really neat idea being pushed by Tesco in the frozen food sector - colour coding for cases. It’s not a hi-tech solution and it’s not without controversy. But if the entire industry buys into this concept, it may well help improve things across the board in a sector blighted by poor availability.
And if you know of other initiatives to tackle out of stocks, then please let us know - because it is important that we continue to highlight the potential solutions as well as the problem.
Availability: on the case
Another week, another report on retailers’ problems with on-shelf availability. This time it comes from ECR UK, the pan-industry body, which has published the first findings of its survey looking at the availability, or otherwise, of 200 key grocery products.
There’s lots of fascinating stuff in this new report. Whether you were the best performer in the survey (with a 98.3% availability record - well done!) or the worst retailer (just 91.7% available - shame on you!), I am sure the survey made for uncomfortable reading. I think the most startling statistic is that just three lines - own label baked beans, loose tomatoes and onions - were 100% available. That reflects really badly on the entire industry.
When we last quizzed suppliers about this issue, all of them felt that retailers were not doing enough to tackle the problems that caused out of stocks. And the ECR UK survey would appear to back up their point of view.
I realise we have been banging on about this issue for two years or more - and I know some retailers wish we would stop. But what they forget is that the team on The Grocer are shoppers as well as journalists - so we have first-hand experience of how bad the problems can be and how intensely frustrating it is for consumers when products are out of stock. Until things get better, we’ll keep on reporting this issue.
So what’s to be done? Well, the experts tell us there is no single reason why products do not get on to shop shelves. Often rotten forecasting is to blame, occasionally it’s problems in the last 50 yards and, yes, suppliers will sometimes admit that poor service levels on their part can also contribute to the problem.
Despite widespread frustration at the apparent lack of progress in tackling these issues, there does seem to be plenty of work under way across the industry.
Next week, for instance, we will take a close look at a really neat idea being pushed by Tesco in the frozen food sector - colour coding for cases. It’s not a hi-tech solution and it’s not without controversy. But if the entire industry buys into this concept, it may well help improve things across the board in a sector blighted by poor availability.
And if you know of other initiatives to tackle out of stocks, then please let us know - because it is important that we continue to highlight the potential solutions as well as the problem.
Availability: on the case
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