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Let’s start with a simple premise:
there is an acceptable and necessary
level of perishable shrink, but there are
proper limits.
By
Larry Miller
Amazon, Walmart and others are coming for
our sales. Our best defense will be exciting,
well merchandised, well run and excellently
branded fresh/perishables departments.
Do your stores deliver on your perishables
brand promise? If not, take a fresh approach
to quality and freshness through shrink
anticipation and prevention.
If we are to be sales-driven and control
oriented, loss prevention professionals must
collaborate with perishable supervisors to
know each department’s profit objectives and
help to implement operational processes to
help assure profit realization.
Anyone who has ever been responsible for
selling perishables – whether it’s produce,
meat, deli, floral, or seafood – knows that
there is a direct correlation between display
and merchandising and sales. The more
you display, the more you sell, but more
merchandising can also lead to higher
shrink.
Therefore, the smartest way to minimize
perishable shrink is to sell it. And (of course)
to sell it while it’s fresh. So, the science (and
the art) of selling perishables and controlling
shrink for perishable profit optimization is
an important study.
Here are some vital impact points that must
be implemented to get the most profit out
of your perishable departments. There are
seven steps, or process effectiveness check-
points, required to optimize perishable
department profit. Miss any of them, or fail
to train your managers to understand them,
and you simply cannot and will not achieve
best-in-class perishable profit optimization
within your company’s plan.
Let’s begin by setting expectations. Use the
chart on the next page to determine where
you are today in your perishable profit
structure and where you want to be in the
next three to six months.
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