Why is Target so bad at keeping items in stock?

[Mikuhl]

Our Target Mobile is about to buy sim cards online and cancel the order so they go return to stock. Distribution center never supplys them enough sim cards which is hurting their commission. When they do send some once a month, they send like 5 which lasts us all but a few hours. They literally have to tell guests to go to Best Buy and come back. That is unacceptable.

This is not just a problem with sim cards, but a lot of items. Items are constantly out of stock with mySupport saying none are being ordered by the DC, why?

Our aisles look empty, and mySupport literally telling us they wont send more because of over performance. That seems like a reason to order MORE??

I ask for an increased OTL yet mySupport says we are in line with our sales. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE ARE SELLING IF WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SELL?

Our sales are hurting because we have nothing people want. Hello??? I can't save the sale because shipping is too damn slow. You can go on Amazon and get something way cheaper the next day.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Waiting for 5g?

 

[Ringwraith917]

They only care that you're hitting your goals. Not about how many missed sales you have.

 

[Tarshitsucks]

Because Tarshit doesn't care. You think if they gave shit that stores would have this many problems.

 

[Reshop Ninja]

Have you tried checking your capacity counts for the sd cards? Maybe the reason you aren't getting as many is because the floor capacity is really low or isn't tied to a pog. I had the same thing happen in my department where I wasn't getting any folded jeans because the pog somehow got untied. Once I retied the pog I started getting a bunch in on my truck.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

We have the same issues with SIM cards and have to take from a sister store often because they get a ton for some reason.

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

Don't mysupport this. You need to get with your DM and explain to them the financial impact. At a minimum, they should be able to store to store transfer you some cards and give you a few months to generate some sales data.

I would suggest asking them to get you twice as many to start with (you have 5, get you 10), then go from there.

Mysupport generally does not align financially, they're looking at this from a problem/resolution standpoint. To them you are selling X therefore you get X. They aren't going to take into account sales dates, they can't see that info.

 

[Black Sheep 214]

Green metrics are important to Spot because they can use them as evidence of an efficient, successful process for the stockholders. Since lost sales can’t be tracked, the stockholders can’t take them into account, so...

 

[Mikuhl]

Have you tried checking your capacity counts for the sd cards? Maybe the reason you aren't getting as many is because the floor capacity is really low or isn't tied to a pog. I had the same thing happen in my department where I wasn't getting any folded jeans because the pog somehow got untied. Once I retied the pog I started getting a bunch in on my truck.

The capacity for the sim cards are 9999 plus another blue tie with capacity 9999

 

[gsa4lyfe]

The capacity for the sim cards are 9999 plus another blue tie with capacity 9999

Changing instore capacities won’t change your OTL. See what the actual POG set capacity for that item is.

 

[Reshop Ninja]

The capacity for the sim cards are 9999 plus another blue tie with capacity 9999

🤨 What the hell? That amount is way too high! If I were you I would do an Exf and greatly lower the capacity to something far more feasible. If possible, see what the capacity is supposed to be according to the pog it's tied to and change it to that. I would then confirm your floor count and wait a few days to see if that fixes it.

 

[Staffwoman]

🤨 What the hell? That amount is way too high! If I were you I would do an Exf and greatly lower the capacity to something far more feasible. If possible, see what the capacity is supposed to be according to the pog it's tied to and change it to that. I would then confirm your floor count and wait a few days to see if that fixes it.

I've seen pog capacities for ONE peg of socks set at over 2,000. We had a peg for a lanyard preset at 18,000 this last set. Do you think those amounts are way too high?

 

[Luck]

Our Target Mobile is about to buy sim cards online and cancel the order so they go return to stock. Distribution center never supplys them enough sim cards which is hurting their commission. When they do send some once a month, they send like 5 which lasts us all but a few hours. They literally have to tell guests to go to Best Buy and come back. That is unacceptable.

This is not just a problem with sim cards, but a lot of items. Items are constantly out of stock with mySupport saying none are being ordered by the DC, why?

Our aisles look empty, and mySupport literally telling us they wont send more because of over performance. That seems like a reason to order MORE??

I ask for an increased OTL yet mySupport says we are in line with our sales. HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT WE ARE SELLING IF WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SELL?

Our sales are hurting because we have nothing people want. Hello??? I can't save the sale because shipping is too damn slow. You can go on Amazon and get something way cheaper the next day.

Check Out of Stocks across the network. My DC is currently at a higher OOS % than the stores we serve. It's the nature of the time of year. Lost sales are pennies compared to money tied up in orders that are sitting in the warehouse unshipped, and this is the time of year Target starts trying to be as in the green as possible.

For arguments sake let's say a pallet of SD cards costs (we are using simple number here) $10,000. The DC is able to offload that pallet once a month and divides to each store based on average sales.
You ask for more, because to you each SD card brings in $100 profit. Surely we want the extra profit right? But those cards dont grow on trees. So the DC orders a second pallet, for an additional $10k. But now of that, there are only enough over-performing stores like yourself to offload half the pallet. So that pallet is stuck in the warehouse for the entire month. and who knows if next month will be as successful? Perhaps the 1.5 pallet quantity that we were able to sell last month was a fluke.

So while we netted an extra, let's say $5k in profit from getting those sales. We are actually $5k in the red because we have yet to finish off the pallet. And even worse, that is an entire pallet space that is occupied. Space is the single most valuable resource in logistics. That is a pallet space that could have gone toward an additional pallet space of diapers, or paper towel/toilet paper. All of which Flow through the DC almost immediately as soon as they are recieved. Guarenteed, instant turnover. so not only is the order itself put Target $5k in the red, but we are also losing out on thousands and thousands more in lost sales on other more guaranteed avenues of profit.

Hopefully this helps to explain why just because we CAN sell more, doesnt necessarily mean we always should. As counterintuitive as it may seem at first.

 

[Bufferine]

I fix our counts all the time. I don’t understand how one week I have 121 apples and 7 days later I have negative -14,223. (we are under construction so we are very slow) Does anyone know? This happens often with counts outrageously off. I think it’s someone purposely sabotaging. We have one of those types of TM at our store? Boss lady thinks it is DC Messing up our counts.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

I fix our counts all the time. I don’t understand how one week I have 121 apples and 7 days later I have negative -14,223. (we are under construction so we are very slow) Does anyone know? This happens often with counts outrageously off. I think it’s someone purposely sabotaging. We have one of those types of TM at our store? Boss lady thinks it is DC Messing up our counts.

Probably the same people who say holiday item A in onespot can fit 1324 items and refuse to fix it

ETA: I've asked if I should fix it and have been told no...like wtf? It would be helpful if we didn't get sent 5 60pks of the same damn dpci of socks

 

[60SecondsRemaining]

Check Out of Stocks across the network. My DC is currently at a higher OOS % than the stores we serve. It's the nature of the time of year. Lost sales are pennies compared to money tied up in orders that are sitting in the warehouse unshipped, and this is the time of year Target starts trying to be as in the green as possible.

For arguments sake let's say a pallet of SD cards costs (we are using simple number here) $10,000. The DC is able to offload that pallet once a month and divides to each store based on average sales.
You ask for more, because to you each SD card brings in $100 profit. Surely we want the extra profit right? But those cards dont grow on trees. So the DC orders a second pallet, for an additional $10k. But now of that, there are only enough over-performing stores like yourself to offload half the pallet. So that pallet is stuck in the warehouse for the entire month. and who knows if next month will be as successful? Perhaps the 1.5 pallet quantity that we were able to sell last month was a fluke.

So while we netted an extra, let's say $5k in profit from getting those sales. We are actually $5k in the red because we have yet to finish off the pallet. And even worse, that is an entire pallet space that is occupied. Space is the single most valuable resource in logistics. That is a pallet space that could have gone toward an additional pallet space of diapers, or paper towel/toilet paper. All of which Flow through the DC almost immediately as soon as they are recieved. Guarenteed, instant turnover. so not only is the order itself put Target $5k in the red, but we are also losing out on thousands and thousands more in lost sales on other more guaranteed avenues of profit.

Hopefully this helps to explain why just because we CAN sell more, doesnt necessarily mean we always should. As counterintuitive as it may seem at first.

The customer experience generated by the lack of simcards disengages the customer and will eventually cause them to disconnect and shop elsewhere.

I agree the return on investment so to speak is low, but this is a problem that the dm should be able to resolve himself in the short term quickly by manually redistributing via store to store. The DM is already driving from store to store to store, it costs him nothing.

 

[Luck]

The customer experience generated by the lack of simcards disengages the customer and will eventually cause them to disconnect and shop elsewhere.

I agree the return on investment so to speak is low, but this is a problem that the dm should be able to resolve himself in the short term quickly by manually redistributing via store to store. The DM is already driving from store to store to store, it costs him nothing.

Oh I dont disagree. And that is why they are there to resolve issues. I doubt that sim cards are even ordered by the pallet anyway. I just wanted to explain the mindset the DCs have to have.

 

[IWishIKnew]

I've asked if I should fix it and have been told no...like wtf?

WTF? Indeed. My store always tells us to fix counts, particularly ones that are wildly off because whoever set the POG didn't bother to update the crazy default counts (be the 1 or 100 or whatever) to reflect reality.

 

[Dead and Khaki]

ETA: I've asked if I should fix it and have been told no...like wtf? It would be helpful if we didn't get sent 5 60pks of the same damn dpci of socks

This is why I ask for neither permission nor forgiveness.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

Probably the same people who say holiday item A in onespot can fit 1324 items and refuse to fix it

ETA: I've asked if I should fix it and have been told no...like wtf? It would be helpful if we didn't get sent 5 60pks of the same damn dpci of socks

Changing in store capacities will never change what you receive. Your OTL determines what you receive and that’s set by HQ and items change throughout the year. For example my stores OTL for Poland spring water is currently 80ish but in the summer it’s 200 something but the capacity will always remain the same. Capacity only effects in store replenishment like pulls

 

[Tessa120]

Check Out of Stocks across the network. My DC is currently at a higher OOS % than the stores we serve. It's the nature of the time of year. Lost sales are pennies compared to money tied up in orders that are sitting in the warehouse unshipped, and this is the time of year Target starts trying to be as in the green as possible.

For arguments sake let's say a pallet of SD cards costs (we are using simple number here) $10,000. The DC is able to offload that pallet once a month and divides to each store based on average sales.
You ask for more, because to you each SD card brings in $100 profit. Surely we want the extra profit right? But those cards dont grow on trees. So the DC orders a second pallet, for an additional $10k. But now of that, there are only enough over-performing stores like yourself to offload half the pallet. So that pallet is stuck in the warehouse for the entire month. and who knows if next month will be as successful? Perhaps the 1.5 pallet quantity that we were able to sell last month was a fluke.

So while we netted an extra, let's say $5k in profit from getting those sales. We are actually $5k in the red because we have yet to finish off the pallet. And even worse, that is an entire pallet space that is occupied. Space is the single most valuable resource in logistics. That is a pallet space that could have gone toward an additional pallet space of diapers, or paper towel/toilet paper. All of which Flow through the DC almost immediately as soon as they are recieved. Guarenteed, instant turnover. so not only is the order itself put Target $5k in the red, but we are also losing out on thousands and thousands more in lost sales on other more guaranteed avenues of profit.

Hopefully this helps to explain why just because we CAN sell more, doesnt necessarily mean we always should. As counterintuitive as it may seem at first.

I'm sorry, this makes no sense. The pallet would have had to be bought eventually. It's not like it's a special item that will never be needed again. And it will be all sold soon, it's not like it will never be sold and must be tossed. Therefore there cannot be a loss.

I can understand about taking up space, but if those are such a hot item, why not send them to the stores that are going through them so fast? After all, the DCs decide on a regular basis to stuff stores with unwanted and crazy high quantities, why hold onto and ration out a wanted item?

If all that comes out to a net loss then someone is doing some screwy bookkeeping.

 

[Mikuhl]

SD cards are still out of stock to this day. We get like 1 and it sells immediately. The sim cards have gotten better, my constant nagging of myHelp seemed to have done something. We have received 30 or so, meanwhile the other stores have about 3-5. We finally don't have to turn guests away to Best Buy!

 

[Luck]

I'm sorry, this makes no sense. The pallet would have had to be bought eventually. It's not like it's a special item that will never be needed again. And it will be all sold soon, it's not like it will never be sold and must be tossed. Therefore there cannot be a loss.

I can understand about taking up space, but if those are such a hot item, why not send them to the stores that are going through them so fast? After all, the DCs decide on a regular basis to stuff stores with unwanted and crazy high quantities, why hold onto and ration out a wanted item?

If all that comes out to a net loss then someone is doing some screwy bookkeeping.

It does make sense. I do understand it is a strange concept and hard to wrap your head around at first.
The DC has a budget, both in terms of $ and space just like a store. Why doesnt your store just order 1,000 of the most expensive t.v.s? Surely EVENTUALLY they will all sell right? Well of course that is both because that means you would have no room for anything else, and your store wouldnt ha e money for any other products. It is the same way at the DC.
In a perfect world the DC receives and ships out items as soon as we unload them. This is what happens with products like diapers, where ~90% of what we take off the Pampers truck is sent immediately to be loaded in trailers. This means that as soon as we buy the diapers, we are sending them out and making a profit on them (please keep in mind the DC operates as a store, for the stores).
We take on a pallet of something that sits in the warehouse, we are actively losing money on it, because no one is buying it.
If we buy a $10k order of electronics, and sell an "extra" $5k per month over 2 months. That means the first month we have LOST $5k because that money is tied up in a physical product sitting on the shelves wasting space.
Money that could have been used to order more paper towel, toilet paper, diapers, etc. All of which on a busy Sunday are at dangerously low quantity at stores and we know are guarenteed to flow through the supply chain as guarenteed revenue.
Did that help a bit more?

 

[Tessa120]

But again, that's weird bookkeeping. I've been an accounting clerk at a few places and asked the accountants to explain the numbers, profit/loss is a marathon. You don't want to over-extend yourself at first, but a certain amount of short term loss that results in long term gain is the normal flow of finances.

And what would really help is explaining to not just me but all these folks why they keep getting more and more stuff that won't fit on the sales floor and hangs around the backroom until it is salvaged out. Why there's a limit for how many items can go on the floor, why there's a hard limit of physics for what can be squished, but the arrivals of that item just won't stop. Why there are items that for that location won't sell, so clearly no need for replenishment, but it won't stop coming. When you can show how these very common daily shipments fit your explanation for why too many TVs aren't sent (but all these other items are), and why short term meeting demand so people don't go to competitors and will haunt electronics forever means that long term profit won't be realized, then I will understand.

 

[Fluttervale]

But again, that's weird bookkeeping. I've been an accounting clerk at a few places and asked the accountants to explain the numbers, profit/loss is a marathon. You don't want to over-extend yourself at first, but a certain amount of short term loss that results in long term gain is the normal flow of finances.

And what would really help is explaining to not just me but all these folks why they keep getting more and more stuff that won't fit on the sales floor and hangs around the backroom until it is salvaged out. Why there's a limit for how many items can go on the floor, why there's a hard limit of physics for what can be squished, but the arrivals of that item just won't stop. Why there are items that for that location won't sell, so clearly no need for replenishment, but it won't stop coming. When you can show how these very common daily shipments fit your explanation for why too many TVs aren't sent (but all these other items are), and why short term meeting demand so people don't go to competitors and will haunt electronics forever means that long term profit won't be realized, then I will understand.

You aren’t talking about profit or loss, you’re talking about the cost of holding.

The cost of space in a store or warehouse isn’t just the overhead, it’s the lost profits of what you could have put there instead.

It’s the tostitos argument. “Will this nonsense a vendor wants to sell me make as much money with as little effort as Tostitos?”

Secondly, you have to understand consumers. It’s the old 80-20 rule. 80% of sales come from 20% of the product. Consumers want choices but also are very consistent in their choices. They want the option of 40 kinds of salad dressing, cereal, ice cream, but they will spend 80% of their money on the same three DPCIs. They want choice but they won’t choose. If you cut the store back to only things they buy regularly, you’re at CVS. It’s human nature. You have to keep stuff they will only rarely buy in order to get them to believe they have “chosen” anything at all.