Archived 999-99-9999

[pellinore]

Our store has really been cracking down on using this for items that don't have prices. Today my one GSTL said that we're not allowed to use this on anything.....not even items under $5.00.

In the last two weeks my other GSTL has had me use the 9s on two items. One was $14.99 and one was $22.99. How am I supposed to get a price and DPCI for an item when my GSTL says to use the 999s?

I"m just wondering, are there lots of stores dealing with the 999 issue? Or is it just that our store is working to try to cut down on no DPCIs?

 

[Rock Lobster]

Our store has really been cracking down on using this for items that don't have prices. Today my one GSTL said that we're not allowed to use this on anything.....not even items under $5.00.

In the last two weeks my other GSTL has had me use the 9s on two items. One was $14.99 and one was $22.99. How am I supposed to get a price and DPCI for an item when my GSTL says to use the 999s?

I"m just wondering, are there lots of stores dealing with the 999 issue? Or is it just that our store is working to try to cut down on no DPCIs?

It just depends on your store.... AP is making the shortage indicator a HUGE focus, and generally if your store has a red shortage indicator it is because of count updates (ie instocks) or unidentified sales (the no barcode button)... If your store is red, your AP will definitely start cracking down on those two things! Essentially unidentified sales is calculated by total no barcode usage/total sales (both in dollars).... I believe that it has to be below a .07% for it to be green and bellow a .11% to be yellow! Many stores struggle with it and how red you are probably will determine how strict your leaders are going to react! I think that eliminating the usage completely is not correct and defeats the purpose of having the tool in the first place... its about controlling the usage back down to a reasonable level! To me, around a .06% is better than a 0% because it shows you aren't cheating and keeping your checkout fast within a reasonable level

 

[Barcode]

Why the crackdown on it...? It should be used in situations to speed up the checkout process in the case of items with no barcode/dpci.

I could see them cracking down on 999 returns, but other than that..

 

[mrknownothing]

At my store, we don't really get crazy with 999. Our GSTLs call the sales floor for a DPCI in most cases, but I hit K3 for No Barcode (because 999 requires an override) only if it's small and not worth the trouble (i.e. One Spot item without a tag).

999/No Barcode is a double-edged sword. Using it is Vibe-friendly, but AP hates it.

 

[Rock Lobster]

At my store, we don't really get crazy with 999. Our GSTLs call the sales floor for a DPCI in most cases, but I hit K3 for No Barcode (because 999 requires an override) only if it's small and not worth the trouble (i.e. One Spot item without a tag).

999/No Barcode is a double-edged sword. Using it is Vibe-friendly, but AP hates it.

Yep it just depends on how your AP's shortage indicator looks... if they are green then there is no reason for them to start restricting anything! If they are red they often over react to try and figure out how to get it back to green... often times its an operational issue of some sort that causes the problems (sure the cashier should try and limit their usage of the button, but what is causing so many items without prices in POS to come up to the lanes in the first place?)

 

[pellinore]

I don't know why the crackdown.....but the answer of the shortage makes sense to me.

I agree, not being able to use the 999s is slowing down our FFF process......and doesn't having to call the GSTL over go against the concept of "vibe?"

Also, the registers won't allow you to price anything over $19.99 without a DPCI.

Another question.....when you ring something out and the system asks you "How much for this item...?" isn't this listed under the 999s? If so, will we need to call over a GSTL for these types of items, too?

 

[Rock Lobster]

I don't know why the crackdown.....but the answer of the shortage makes sense to me.

I agree, not being able to use the 999s is slowing down our FFF process......and doesn't having to call the GSTL over go against the concept of "vibe?"

Also, the registers won't allow you to price anything over $19.99 without a DPCI.

Another question.....when you ring something out and the system asks you "How much for this item...?" isn't this listed under the 999s? If so, will we need to call over a GSTL for these types of items, too?

My ETL-AP was going to ask our APBP this question... We think that if it comes up how much is this, but it shows the description of the item then it doesn't count towards unidentified sales, but if it just shows merchandise it does... I am just guessing though!

Not being able to use the no barcode button completely does hurt your FFF process... which is why I said its better to be at a .06 than a .00... What is probably happening is your percentage is closer to red above a .11% which means its beyond just helping the guest and into something going wrong either at your lanes (cashiers just using the no barcode instead of looking for numbers) or on the salesfloor (someone not taking care of no numbers and just leaving them on the floor, repackages not getting done etc)...

 

[Retail Girl]

I don't know why the crackdown.....but the answer of the shortage makes sense to me.

I agree, not being able to use the 999s is slowing down our FFF process......and doesn't having to call the GSTL over go against the concept of "vibe?"

Also, the registers won't allow you to price anything over $19.99 without a DPCI.

Another question.....when you ring something out and the system asks you "How much for this item...?" isn't this listed under the 999s? If so, will we need to call over a GSTL for these types of items, too?

If there is a description with the "how much is this?" question, then the dpci is still attached to the item. If there is no description, then we have to call for the dpci. I drive some ETLs crazy when insisting on a dpci. I was way too high one month, and told specifically anything not in one spot needs that number. If they don't want to deal with the hassle, I would prefer they suspend the order and do it under their own number.

 

[AssetsProtection]

Why the crackdown on it...? It should be used in situations to speed up the checkout process in the case of items with no barcode/dpci.

I could see them cracking down on 999 returns, but other than that..

I bet your AP team hates you... JK ;]

 

[lovecats]

My ETL-AP was going to ask our APBP this question... We think that if it comes up how much is this, but it shows the description of the item then it doesn't count towards unidentified sales, but if it just shows merchandise it does... I am just guessing though!

Not being able to use the no barcode button completely does hurt your FFF process... which is why I said its better to be at a .06 than a .00... What is probably happening is your percentage is closer to red above a .11% which means its beyond just helping the guest and into something going wrong either at your lanes (cashiers just using the no barcode instead of looking for numbers) or on the salesfloor (someone not taking care of no numbers and just leaving them on the floor, repackages not getting done etc)...

I usually get the How much is this on clearance. I figured that it just got marked down. Sometimes it seems to take it awhile to update in the system.

 

[Retail Girl]

I usually get the How much is this on clearance. I figured that it just got marked down. Sometimes it seems to take it awhile to update in the system.

Or it has gone missed salvage and is out of the system completely.

 

[lovecats]

Or it has gone missed salvage and is out of the system completely.

Most of the time the clearance has a sticker on it with the actual price so it's easy. Otherwise, I either get the gsa/gstl.

 

[Retail Girl]

Most of the time the clearance has a sticker on it with the actual price so it's easy. Otherwise, I either get the gsa/gstl.

Yep. As long as the description is still in the system, I love those...easy enough to punch in and move on.

 

[StaticSun]

I don't know why the crackdown.....but the answer of the shortage makes sense to me.

I agree, not being able to use the 999s is slowing down our FFF process......and doesn't having to call the GSTL over go against the concept of "vibe?"

Also, the registers won't allow you to price anything over $19.99 without a DPCI.

Another question.....when you ring something out and the system asks you "How much for this item...?" isn't this listed under the 999s? If so, will we need to call over a GSTL for these types of items, too?

So, it turns out that you can do a 999 over $20. You just have to be a supervisor.
"How much" prompt = NOT unidentified. It still has a DPCI associated with the UPC, but no price. That's a 100% normal okay sale.

Even if you don't have a DPCI, if you can get ATLEAST a dept xxx-00-0000 or the dept and class xxx-xx-0000 you're helping to identify it in some way, but will still count in an unidentified sale.

 

[redeye58]

Yrs ago at my store during the holidays, they *used* to type up a dept code sheet for the checklanes so that you could assign a dept to the item (& the price, if reasonable).
Ex: baby clothing 031-00-9999 (yeh, it's not exact just an example).
That way the item could be assigned a dept, it would show up on the receipt under a dept & no override was required.

 

[Retail Girl]

That would be really helpful to have at GS when you are trying to figure out what dept a guest has to pick an exchange from.

 

[redeye58]

I'll see if I can find a list....
*rummaging around papers*

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

That would be really helpful to have at GS when you are trying to figure out what dept a guest has to pick an exchange from.

Your pricing tl should have a copy of that list. Hey PM or stl, you got that list handy?

 

[PricingMaster]

I can grab my Department List it when I go to work tomorrow - I have a list of Unit of Measures and which ones go to which departments for those who are Unit Pricing stores

 

[buliSBI]

The 9-9's have been out of fashion for a good while, or at least in my experience. If there was something without a barcode, I had to research it or at least find a close dept/class#.

If an item does not have an attached tag or barcode, just look for any tags or DPCI prints. Most clothes and shoes will carry a DPCI on a secondary tag or on the inside.

An item search on the PDA or POS, can also help narrow a search done.

 

[tech]

My ETL-AP was going to ask our APBP this question... We think that if it comes up how much is this, but it shows the description of the item then it doesn't count towards unidentified sales, but if it just shows merchandise it does... I am just guessing though!

If you scan an item and it say "How much is this" with the description, that means the item has gone missed salvage. As a cashier I would ask the guest if they saw a price and put in whatever they say (I usually minus $.50 to make the guest happy), if I am a GSA (means I have a LPDA) I just scan it in item search to give it to them for the last clearance price.

If the item just says "how much is this" WITHOUT the description means, that the barcode on the product is not tied to a DPCI. This usually happens with new merchandise. Luckily, a lot of items still have numbers someone on it, if that is the case you just need to type in the numbers. If not it becomes a sticky situation.

If I believe the item may be returned and item is near the front lanes I will run and get the numbers from the shelf tag...if not I just use the department numbers.

However team members up front, cashiers, gstm, and gsas when you find one of these items tell a TL, they should be able to tie the bar code to its correct DPCI

 

[StaticSun]

I find the issue is most commonly occuring when we get a new item in pfresh from the FDC, where the UPC isn't tied to the DPCI yet.

A quick run back to the reverse log PC or an email to the instocks/backroom TL can have that tied quickly.

 

[Barcode]

If it comes up as "How much is this?" its either NOF (if it says MerchandisE), but if the description is there it usually has been salvaged out! If the sticker has the price on it, you can just use that, OR you can use Item Search and scan the item, and it will have the final clearance price before being salvaged out!

As for items that are NOF, its usually a broken UPC/DPCI tie. Otherwise, you can use the SIM app on the PDA to assign a generic Department/Class to an item, and set a price. It will print an AS IS sticker that you can attach to the item.