Recommedations

Shop Rites uses CGO, also known as Computer Generated Ordering.  CGO was designed to improve supply chain for retailers and their warehouses. It develops a consistent and constant flow of inventory for a store. Though the system is a drastic improvement from the outdated manual input of placing orders to the warehouse, there are still improvements to be made. CGO keeps track of the inventory throughout the store as well as the in-and-out functions of the inventory as it pertains to consumers purchases, enabling the employees to focus on other store needs and not worry about stocking. The problem comes in when the data of the system is wrong due to human circumstances or miscellaneous events. Examples of such would be inventory theft, damaged property not dealt with, or products misplaced in the stock rooms of the store. When an item is stolen, the inventory system does not know this; it assumes that the item is still in stock, making its numbers inaccurate. Resulting in not enough inventories. The same goes for damaged items if they are not accounted for and dealt with accordingly since the system can’t do it. These errors can be critical in the outcome of future inventory stocking problems, resulting in either too much stock or not enough/out-of-stock situations.

 

 
 

We recommend assigning a program or employee to regularly count and update varies inventories of products to ensure correct input of the amount. By managing inventory correctly it will properly allow CGO to adjust accordingly. Though it might be somewhat time consuming, the assurance is necessary to avoid system errors.

We would also recommend that ShopRite adopt an official Information Technology team. An Information technology manager should be designated to every store location, which will help in training other managers and employees. This manager should be well versed in the system procedures and software, and understand how to go about giving the employees effective training. An every-so-often stock checkup-training manual is simply not enough. Every employee should know exactly what is going on within the system. Without proper training, employees and managers are unable to respond to issues that arise with the system. If they created a more effective internal IT team, company productivity would increase even more and their stock quantities would be nearly ideal, which ultimately benefits the customers and the company.

 

Shoprite CGO systems do not record and analyze sales longer than a few months. To better have a consumption understanding, it is essential for the stores system to have and utilize annual comparisons of inventory. To be able to compare sales and inventory from years past, as well as utilize that data for future strategic inventory purposes.

 

We recommend adding annual comparison software to the system to be able to better assess present and future sales and to accurately assess inventory needs.

 

As the customer continues to change, the technology that comes with a grocery store will need to change. ShopRite has already begun looking into different ways of processing customer orders. ShopRite’s online ordering system is relatively basic and isn’t fully integrated within the headquarters, warehouse, storefront systems, more specifically when it comes to keeping records of online sales within the IT system at the store.

 

ShopRite should begin to look into new information systems that could help expand its online ordering portion of the company.
 

ShopRite should consider looking into the Harbortouch POS Elite system. It will enable them to function at the highest level of operating the store.