Archived Our video games is nortoriously flexed!!!

[CaptainRevision]

I can't stand it when I get to do revisions there EVERY week. I get to waste twice the time, not because I am not fast, but because it's always flex liked crazy. What should be surely 1 day work become 2. Or 2 becomes 3 *sigh*

The thinking of managers in this dept want every case look full even though some of the games are brand new and just being out for 1-2 weeks and when they see it empty they will ask other team members to flex or worse, ask me to flex some old games over it. They(managers) don't do it, they don't have concept how MUCH time this process wastes unwisely.

Argh, and it doesn't help when it has multiple locations like 3 places for it but 0 games on hand. Gaming LP #1 and #2 is often the problem... 2-3 locations when we have 0, really?


Target NEED a better system than this senseless flexing! Cuz, like I said, it causes me to waste my time doublely.

 

[CaptainRevision]

Then, when I ask my managers WHY they want to flex like this so bad, I mentioned to them about the time wasting, they said it's because that's what the corporate wants.

So I am guessing it's not because they have no concept but have no choice either.

This really comes down to the company practice, right.

 

[CrazyTarget]

if there is nothing in my batch for LP1 and LP2, i just put some other games or leave the games from last week. Also, there is a lot of labels in PS2 and XBOX POGs for NCF games we are sold out of, where you have to put something else, and out elec stockroom is full of old old old games that never go on clearance.

 

[CaptainRevision]

My question for corporate is why not just create a separate aisle/section solely for flexing NCF games? That would save a TONS of wasted time and putting out games from backroom that is active but not on planogram!

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

We have to keep our shelfs filled.

 

[CaptainRevision]

*SIGH* I know that's what you all in the corporate mindset want, BUT...

Many of us don't get what difference does it make with the flexing wrong stuff! I've got several co-workers on Planogram and sales floor TMs agrees with what I am saying. We all agree that it's confusing and pretty sure it's the same for the guests too, if not MORE confusing for the guests.

The guests, a lot like me, don't want something else, we want to buy what we came in to get - SPECIFIC game/product! Flexed different product is not gonna make me happier when I don't see what I want in the first place!

Like if I come in to buy Call of Duty: Black Ops II and that's out, chances are I am not here to buy freaking NCF game in it's place pulled from backroom from a year ago, in it's place. COMON!

Think about it!

The company policy here is very flawed!!!! I laugh at some of the product substitutions like they are completely a joke to me! *sigh* ONLY at Target is there a weird thinking that customer will be satisfied with another product than what they came in for. I personally don't understand this kind of thinking, I am truly baffled by it!

When combined with WASTING TIME factor, I really think it's not worth it.

 

[Retail Girl]

The idea of product flexing really slays me. Especially when most TMs just do it without thinking...next thing you know, we're lowering prices at the registers due to "bad zone" also known as flexing higher priced merchandise behind lower price signs.

 

[chevalier]

It should definitely be noted how our competitor Fred Meyer does video games (and movies). The price is marked on the item, and the item is shelved face out, with total freedom of movement left or right. The video game shelves are all protected behind glass. If the shelf is getting low, they just face out some of the more popular games to take up the space.

Movies there are also shelved alphabetically, library style. It takes me ten seconds to figure out if they have the movie I want. I've worked for Target for years, and I still can't find a movie for a guest without wandering around the area looking like a doofus, using an agonizingly slow item search function.

 

[CaptainRevision]

Target need to come up with new concepts for all the movies and video games, make them alphabetical like other stores do.


LP #1 and #2 are actually good ideas for NEW releases, but ALL of the games there should be new, which means no pulling old games on there from more than 3 weeks old.


Current ways of doing them is a huge time waster, when on Planogram, it feels like you get your 40 hours regardless how fast you do the job so I prefer to do it as fast as possible without all these things wasting my time!

 

[dek067]

our last reset we got game cases on the back side of the video game sections, and the wii u moved next to lp1. so this year, i talked to my team about how we are going to flex. use the pricing flip labels, on the main aisles, we flex multiple facings of the same items (for example, if there's a hole next to cod, we just flex a copy of cod into the keeper , use a flip with a generic label. fills up all the holes and instocks looks for the flip for research. then we use lp1/2 for new releases and pack them out. we use the new game case endcap for nop flex. this way, instocks will know where everything is. if they cant find it, it's on the back endcap.

 

[Darikona]

My store gets super gungho about flexing, to the point of no rationality. So basically after two years the leadership finally agreed to just tie the revisions, flex out the new releases and walk away during the month of December. It becomes too much of a nightmare to try and properly revise if everything is flexed everywhere. This becomes especially tedious when we tear down shippers with dcode games and put them into the main aisle.

 

[CaptainRevision]

I agree no rationality!

 

[commiecorvus]

I agree no rationality!

Every time I use the words rational or common sense one of the plano team whacks me with a rolled up planogram.
You must excise those words from your vocabulary when you are at work.
Its just not worth the headache.

 

[GrumpyAP]

Agreed^2. Not having the movies/dvds alphabetically organized, or systematic in their themes is ... ridiculous.

"excuse me, do you have breaking bad?" "hold on, I have to check its 3 pog locations."

nevermind the clusterF(*& that is music. Our entertainment guy can't figure out when to alphabetize by last name instead of band name. Let alone his definition of 'genre.'

 

[mrknownothing]

nevermind the clusterF(*& that is music. Our entertainment guy can't figure out when to alphabetize by last name instead of band name. Let alone his definition of 'genre.'

Yeah, the browser is a ***** to re-shop too.

 

[CrazyTarget]

My question for corporate is why not just create a separate aisle/section solely for flexing NCF games? That would save a TONS of wasted time and putting out games from backroom that is active but not on planogram!

Yes, we have two POGs for NCF games.

 

[RednTacky]

Flexing games at this time of year can be especially important, because of the volume of video game sales. Yeah, if Black Ops 2/Halo 4/etc. are out, and someone came in looking for those games specifically, they're likely not going to buy the game that's been flexed in its place.

However, for parents/grandparents/general gift-buyers (and like or not, these ARE the major demographics shopping for video games at this time of year!), they're likely just going through and seeing what Little Jimmy or Silly Susan would like for his/her PS3/Xbox/Wii/DS, and many times they are going off a list or basing their purchase decisions off of what franchises they like the most. If a game is sitting in the back, it's not going to sell unless an item search happens to reveal its location after a guest asks, and outside of that situation, no one outside of your store has any clue as to what's available for purchase.

 

[gravedigger3]

As an electronic team member I will respond to this. You might not believe it does but flexing video games into empty spots does help us. We usually flex discontinued video games from the backroom onto those spots and not only does it help with attachments (as some of those games are cheap just cause they are older) it also helps are video games sales go up, it's also a way to put them out to hopefully sell the games as "regular price" before they go on clearance.

 

[Bucky]

As someone who did revisions for 6 years, I can say that flexing games in is a pain. In a POG, everything has a place. That is the reason for the POG. Having said that, in reality, our store has a bevy of discontinued games in the backroom. They never go clearance. So, I can see why they need to be flexed out.

It got so bad at one point that I stopped setting the revisions in the aisles. I would just tie in the POG, batch the fill, and pull it. Then I would just put the games out without actually setting the revision. You know who finally pitched a huge fot about it? Price change. They couldn't find anything after a few weeks. It was so funny. It was okay to waste my time as I set the aisles then have someone just flex games in behind me.

 

[mrknownothing]

If you have an empty endcap, then you could Store Tie some of the games that are NOP.

 

[salesfloor10]

My store's video game aisles are super flexed as well. Now that d207 is mpg hopefully there are less revisions and we can get more discontinued out of the backroom.
Has anybody set the nintendo selects games pog or the ncf/ value ds games pogs recently? Hopefully we can use them to flex out our piles of NCF/discontinued games from the back room.

 

[Serri330]

An aisle should never ever be flexed unless it is PTM. Period. Active merchandise, even if it is out, should always have a location.

The only exception to this is when, while scanning for outs, you come across a discontinued product that the system prompts you to flex over. In that case, you can flex something over that is next to it or pull a PTM batch from the back and fill those holes with product that doesn't already have a location.

Think of it this way: If you flex over an a time item, that label is no longer visible. And when Instocks comes through to do their scans, they're going to have non idea that there is an active merchandise label underneath that you have flexed over. So guess what? That item doesn't get scanned. And then we never get more of that product in.

So what happens when a TM, who isn't familiar with the process, just comes through and flexes over COD or Halo 4? We never receive it back in. Not good.

My Electronics department has been really bad about this in the past, because ETLs, who have no idea how Instocks works, just blaze through the department and say, "Oh there are a bunch of holes in these aisles. Flex something in!" not understanding the ramifications of doing just that. I've gotten into a day long argument with an ETL that told me to do just that. It involved getting the Instocks TL and her whole team over to Electronics to have a mini-huddle with the ETL and explain why that can't be done.

So please, guys: Unless the aisle is PTM, or the system prompts you, please don't flex It just means more work for the rest of us!

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

a solution for flexing is put a flex label(Price accuracy)holders on top of the real label for the product out of stock on. then, commincate these actions to the instocks, pricing, & electronics teams on what you are doing. you will get more d-code & active ncf products out of the backroom.

 

[salesfloor10]

a solution for flexing is put a flex label(Price accuracy)holders on top of the real label for the product out of stock on. then, commincate these actions to the instocks, pricing, & electronics teams on what you are doing. you will get more d-code & active ncf products out of the backroom.

That's what my team does. When keeping video games full is a directive from someone above my store level, I'm going to follow it.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Try doing a scan one night & you will understand a lot about entertainment.