Aldi - incompetence and failure?

robin58

geordie_joe wrote: »

Do aldi really do that, allow the managers to control the stock level?

In my store, and the big supermarkets in a documentary I watched, it's all done at head office. It's cheaper, and better to have one computer doing it than all the store managers.

The computer has all the info from all stores and can use it to decide which store gets what. e.g. if they don't have enough stock of one item to fully stock all stores it can send more to the stores that sell a lot quickly and less to those that don't.

Similarly, if they have a surplus it can decide which stores to send extra to.

e.g. store A gets 30 items and sells 10 in a week, store B gets 50 and sells all of them in the first 3 days.

So the computer knows to send extra to store B and none to store A the following week. Whereas a manager of store A might order another 10 just to bring his stock level up again.

I can't believe aldi systems are that backward!

Head office systems only really send out a guaranteed list of stock.

All shops in any business have a local variance of what they sell and to whom.

Say basalti rice is more popular in some areas of ethnicity for instance.

I have watched a person going around the chiller section in Sainsbury's scanning product shelf barcodes and inputting number of items left.

If head office is telling what to sell why do that.

As long as any manager has covered the bases they can put a case forward for asking for more stock of a certain item if it's going to sell.

I used to work in a cinema. As long as you sold the basic stock list of items, the managers locally could order extra stock of any item off the company stock list if you knew you could sell it.

Any company who restricts any one of there shops in selling only what head office dictates they sell, will sooner or later be out of business, unless there is some local level leeway.

robin58

A._Badger wrote: »

To be fair, poor stock control has been an issue in most of the supermarkets I use. Neither Tesco nor Morrisons are immune from it. The only one I find reliable is Waitrose.

Yes, I remember Sainsburys of 10 years ago.

No stock control, big gaps on shelf's.

Even basics like milk and bread etc. ,were sometimes not available.

Took a big kick up the butt to upgrade their computer system amongst other things to sort it out.

dlusman

robin58 wrote: »

I have watched a person going around the chiller section in Sainsbury's scanning product shelf barcodes and inputting number of items left.

If head office is telling what to sell why do that.

.

so that the "stock on hand" figures held by the computer are correct.

They need to check the stock leveles periodically. The stock levels held by the computers may get incorrect for many reasons - incorrect booking in of stock, incorrect scaning through the till , theft , incorrect control of wastages etc.
It is this "current stock levels" that a good store manager can control and manage. If the store isnt managed correctly by a good manager there is nothing that the Head Office algorithms for re-ordering stock can do if the computer says there is 20 in stock ( and so doesnt need any more ) , but there is actually only 2 ( and so should be re-ordered )

jemb

Should have been in asda in Halifax last week then when they had not one packet of baby wipes in the place! According to the guy stocking nappies, they'd not had any as the warehouse was closed over NY!

Living_proof

Can I suggest that you all find a recent Aldi receipt which invites you at the bottom to do a quick survey on your recent experience and you get the chance to win £100. I do it often and on one occasion I was really peeved because when I had gone in on a Sunday at mid-day all the fresh fruit and veg shelves were pretty much empty and swede salad did not appeal! I made a point of complaining about it and very quickly had a response from the area manager who apologised and said she would try and up the stocks on a Sunday so that this wouldn't happen again. It certainly is better stocked now, but I think at this time of year the stores are in a no-win situation in that so many people will be overstocked and broke that they won't shop unless urgent. There are lots of threads on here reflecting that at the moment. We are all so used to the groaning shelves leading up to Christmas and New Year that we forget that we have to come back to harsh reality, or Auld Claes and Porridge as our chums north of the border would say.

System

robin58 wrote: »

Yes, I remember Sainsburys of 10 years ago.

No stock control, big gaps on shelf's.

Even basics like milk and bread etc. ,were sometimes not available.

Took a big kick up the butt to upgrade their computer system amongst other things to sort it out.

Sainsburys are good for stock control now, Plus if on the off chance, you see something you want which is OOS, go to customer services and they will tell you the next delivery date or needed that product today, tell you which store(s) have things in. If its a general merchandise item, they will ring the store to ask to put it onto one side.

Something you cannot do in Aldi

A._Badger

Even when Sainsbury's was bad, I was never convinced (based on local experience) that Tesco was a lot better. At the time I shopped mostly in those two and neither was at all reliable in terms of the specific products that I wanted.

Based on my most recent experience, I'd say that Tesco is now worse than Sainsbury's. Happily, it doesn't charge Sainsbury's hopelessly inflated prices, though!

meer53

jemb wrote: »

Should have been in asda in Halifax last week then when they had not one packet of baby wipes in the place! According to the guy stocking nappies, they'd not had any as the warehouse was closed over NY!

You see, i'm old enough to remember what it was like before baby wipes. Plain water and cotton wool or a facecloth were baby essentials. Much more MSE than baby wipes. To me, they're just a waste of money when used as they are these days.