Excess inventory in retail is among one of the most challenging issues managers struggle with. If not addressed strategically, the effect of the problem can impact many other important aspects of any company’s operations such as employee productivity, marketing, organization and above all, a lack of space whether it’s on the sales floor or in warehouses.

Here at TCCBI, we believe this issue is best solved with strong collaboration from all levels of the supply chain including buyers, marketing managers, suppliers and most importantly, front-line associates and sales managers.  The participation of sales associates is important in the sustenance of a reasonable flow of inventory given that they are dealing with customers and therefore understand customer preferences. Hence, obtaining feedback from the front-line where procurement is concerned is critically important and is unfortunately, quite rare especially in larger organizations.

The Brand Champion Program’s primary premise is that associates are assigned a brand or selection of brands from their department for which they will be responsible for the period of one month.  Their championship required they keep the stock in their brand section tidy at all times and have thorough knowledge of that brand’s offerings.  Brands are to be reassigned monthly by the Sales Manager and a brief brand information transfer session will take place between the last and current month’s brand champions in order to (a.) foster communication and teamwork amongst our department’s employees as well as to (b.) allow associate brand knowledge to compound, creating an overall more knowledgeable department which ultimately yields customer satisfaction and thus increased sales.  

The BCP’s parameters are reviewed by the team on the first day of each month.

On day 7 of ownership, associates are expected to prepare a list of:

• What products & how many brands are in their section,
• The products they would deem good, better and best in their section and why?
• Most and least expensive items in their sections, and
• Inventory level and availability on the sales floor, in stockrooms or in the warehouse

On day 10 of ownership, the following will be inspected:

• Cleanliness of the associate’s section
• All products are price tagged accordingly, and most importantly,
• Is the associate’s section shop able? 

The second to last day of the brand ownership, all Champions meet on the sales floor and tour the department section by section for current owners to transfer their assigned section information to the new owner.

All in all, the BCP ensures that product knowledge is high among sales staff and that inventory levels are monitored routinely.  This helps Sales and Store Managers to place orders from a much more informed place and also empowers associates to become a meaningful part of the procurement process.