“My name is Jeffrey Veldt and I have been an entrepreneur of a SPAR neighbourhood supermarket in Weesp since 2000.
The SPAR started the project SABA (SPAR Automatic Ordering Advice) for stock control and automatic ordering in the store in 2018. I was one of the test stores within the SPAR for the Stock Control System (SCS). The pilot was very successful, and I have remained a happy user of SCS ever since.
The ordering process was previously manual, walking along the shelves with a PDA to review and order each item. A time-consuming task, which meant I was often late ordering. Sometimes I even forgot to order. With SCS that doesn’t happen anymore, even if I forget, the advice from SCS is automatically placed as an order. SCS makes an order recommendation, I focus on the exceptions, saving me 80% of the time needed by ordering manually.
SCS unburdens the store by making sure the right stock is available at the right time for the customer. Better product availability has led to higher sales. It is extraordinary that I started using such an important application without prior training. The screens and PDA work very easily, SCS is extremely user-friendly, and I could not manage the store without it.
Because SCS orders accurately, out of stock and shrinkage has decreased. New items get a better sales opportunity than before because SCS orders them and quickly builds up statistics. I always had very little leftovers, yet inventory has dropped 20% and an overcrowded warehouse with leftovers is a thing of the past. There is now less dead capital in locked up in my stock because of SCS.
Part of the time saved by SCS I put into tracking inventory. The stock in SCS must match the stock in the store. With SCS, you have more control and insight into inventory, so you know sooner about theft or THT issues. You see changes and/or defects in deliveries earlier and thus prevent stock differences in SCS. This allows you to better substantiate internally any delivery errors.
Discipline in the store, but also at the DC and headquarters, has increased with the use of SCS. The importance of accurate picking at the DC and correct item information are a good example of this. SCS is a great tool for my store.”