Retailers face three major problems today: labor shortages, inflation’s impact on costs of goods and the need to continually introduce new products to stay competitive. What if you could address all three of these challenges with one technology solution…which is not an expensive store robot?
We’re talking about Scan-based Trading. You might think you know Scan-based Trading (SBT) well, because it’s not a new concept. In fact, the team at ReposiTrak actually pioneered scan-based trading more than 20 years ago. But have you really evaluated the advantages of scan-based trading lately to address each of the biggest problems facing retailers? If not, you owe it to yourself to take a second look.
Here’s a quick summary of how SBT can be a labor saving, inflation fighting, sales growth machine for a broad range of product categories.
- Labor shortages: With store labor in short supply, the last thing you want is multiple employees spending hours in the back checking in deliveries. Products shipped direct to store using ReposiTrak Scan-based Trading don’t require store personnel to check them in. Delivery drivers handle all the merchandising, and they are in and out of the stores faster. Reducing store receiving time frees up time for employees to focus on other tasks such as customer service and merchandising.
- Inflation: Companies tend to deal with inflation by raising prices, accepting smaller margins, or reducing product costs (and often quality). However, better analytics now allows companies to consider more sophisticated strategic responses to inflation. The ReposiTrak Scan-based Trading solution allows suppliers to analyze sales performance at the store/SKU level daily, so they can make better production and merchandising decisions, leading to fewer out-of-stocks and sales growth. Managing store inventories smarter reduces operating costs as a direct response to inflationary pressures.
- New products: Scan-based trading enables retailers to forgo upfront inventory costs as they remit payment to suppliers once the item sells. This means that there is less risk in dedicating shelf space to new, unproven products. Suppliers have more visibility and control over what product (sizes, colors, etc.) is stocked at retail locations. This also presents opportunities for targeted assortments for specific locations.
Scan-based Trading with ReposiTrak gives retailers and their DSD suppliers better tools to fight the economic headwinds they face, while simultaneously freeing up working capital for retailers to invest in their stores and systems. And the average ROI for suppliers is excellent, too. Is it time for you to take another look at scan-based trading?
