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fixed broken systems, like an internal search engine that gave bad data about which products were in stock; I doubt (with complete speculation) that this was j

fixed broken systems, like an internal search engine that gave bad data about which products were in stock; I doubt (with complete speculation) that this was just an engineering problem (ie, the tech was why the product inventory data was wrong). Inventory management is the biggest competitive advantage retailers can have, and often when it's wrong and messy, a full rework is needed to implement best practices and change the operational processes of the business. The unsexy logistics part of the business is the real cash cow, once the demand question has been solved. I'd be interested to learn more about what Best Buy did to rework their processes, but I doubt it will become public because operational improvements like this can be a real advantage over competitors.

edoceo 6y ago
I work with fast moving inventory. One big trick is easy, optimized handhelds. Any employee can quickly do shelf-count or tag strays which keeps the house-count tight. And simple means BPA workflow is very refined (eg: big iterate the UX six times in three mo on just one or two flows).
- Shivetya 6y ago
  Optimizing where items are stored to facilitate ease of access while also not overwhelming an aisle is also key. fast moving merchandise can change across a year. besides the handhelds using light to indicate where an item is has benefits over some systems which rely on audio clues
TMWNN 6y ago
>I'd be interested to learn more about what Best Buy did to rework their processes, but I doubt it will become public because operational improvements like this can be a real advantage over competitors. It might be simpler than you think. I've noticed that Best Buy's product listings consistently offer more product information (weight, dimensions, model numbers, and especially UPC) than the counterparts at Amazon, Target, and Walmart. All searchable, too; Amazon has the data but a) as mentioned, doesn't always make it visible, and b) doesn't always make it searchable.

edoceo 6y ago

I work with fast moving inventory. One big trick is easy, optimized handhelds. Any employee can quickly do shelf-count or tag strays which keeps the house-count tight. And simple means BPA workflow is very refined (eg: big iterate the UX six times in three mo on just one or two flows).

Shivetya 6y ago
Optimizing where items are stored to facilitate ease of access while also not overwhelming an aisle is also key. fast moving merchandise can change across a year. besides the handhelds using light to indicate where an item is has benefits over some systems which rely on audio clues

TMWNN 6y ago

>I'd be interested to learn more about what Best Buy did to rework their processes, but I doubt it will become public because operational improvements like this can be a real advantage over competitors. It might be simpler than you think. I've noticed that Best Buy's product listings consistently offer more product information (weight, dimensions, model numbers, and especially UPC) than the counterparts at Amazon, Target, and Walmart. All searchable, too; Amazon has the data but a) as mentioned, doesn't always make it visible, and b) doesn't always make it searchable.