A walk down the food aisle on order day
Tuesday is wholesale order day. Your manager walks the food aisle with a notepad: two bags left of this one, none of that flavour, plenty of the puppy food. The order goes in by the wholesaler's cut-off, based on what looks low. On Thursday a regular comes in for his cat's sensitive stomach food, in the specific flavour his cat will eat. There is none. It was on the shelf on Monday, sold on Tuesday afternoon, and not ordered because it looked fine at the time.
He buys a different flavour reluctantly, or goes home and orders online. Meanwhile, three bags of another flavour have been on the shelf for months.
Why the right bag is not on the shelf
A pet food range is wide and deep: many brands, life stages, special diets, flavours and bag sizes. Each individual line may sell only a few bags a month, often to a few specific customers. Ordering by eye works for fast sellers but fails for exactly the lines regulars depend on.
- Orders are based on what looks low on the shelf.
- Till sales are not used to calculate how fast each line sells.
- The shop does not know which regulars depend on which lines.
- Wholesaler lead times and minimums are not built into ordering.
- Slow lines are reordered by habit, taking space and money.
What the empty space costs
Each time a regular finds their food missing, you risk losing them, and a pet food regular is a customer for years. Some pets will not switch foods easily, so the owner has no choice but to go elsewhere. At the same time, money is tied up in bags that do not move and may approach their best before date.
The problem is worst for special diets and less common brands, which are the reason many customers choose an independent shop in the first place. Those are the lines where a single missing bag sends a customer to the internet, and the internet is very good at keeping them.
Order day also takes longer than it should, because the manager is counting shelves instead of making decisions.
Ordering that knows your regulars
- We pull sales by line from your till and calculate each line's rate of sale, including the slow but steady lines.
- Where customers are identified at the till, through loyalty, accounts or repeat orders, we find their buying cycle for each food.
- Expected demand for each line combines general sales with regulars who are due to buy before the next delivery after this one.
- Current stock from your till is compared with that demand and the wholesaler's lead time and pack sizes.
- The manager gets a suggested order per wholesaler, with lines flagged where a regular is due and stock is short.
- Lines with no sales in a long period are flagged for review, so shelf space and money can go to lines that sell.
| Line type | Ordering by eye | Ordering with demand data |
|---|---|---|
| Fast sellers | Usually fine | Topped up to cover expected sales |
| Regulars' specific foods | Often missed | Covered when a regular is due |
| Seasonal or new lines | Guesswork | Watched closely as data builds |
| Slow lines | Reordered by habit | Flagged for review |
The manager stays in charge. The suggested order is a starting point; you know your customers and wholesalers better than any report.
Order day with the numbers ready
On Tuesday morning, the manager opens the suggested order instead of walking the aisle. It shows the lines that will run short, and highlights the ones a regular is due to buy. She adjusts a few quantities and sends the order in minutes.
When the regular comes in for his cat's food on Thursday, it is there. The slow lines that used to sit for months are reviewed and either reduced or dropped, freeing space for foods customers are asking for.
Is your food aisle ordered by eye?
- Wholesale orders are placed by looking at the shelves.
- Regulars sometimes find their food out of stock.
- Some lines sit on the shelf for months.
- You do not know which regulars depend on which lines.
- Order day takes much longer than it should.