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SmackEh t1_ja7ivdx wrote

It's called demand forecasting.

They look at: Current inventory levels. Outstanding purchase orders. Historical trendlines. Forecasting period requirements. Expected demand and seasonality. Maximum possible stock levels. Sales trends and velocity.

There's waste, but softwares account for that and maximum profit is the ultimate goal.

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LeftToaster t1_ja7nkzd wrote

They also accept some waste - particularly in produce, meat and bulk foods because it looks unappealing to have near empty bins. No customer wants to get take the last 3 apples from a nearly empty bin or the last package of steaks or whatever as it appears "picked over" or a lack of choice.

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FormigaX t1_ja82zgx wrote

FYI there's an app called "Flash Food" that coordinates grocery stores selling the last few items or items close to their expiration date for a deep discount. I snap up entire boxes of produce for $5, guacamole, fresh mozzarella, etc. at more than 50% off.

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SpaceAngel2001 t1_ja8ezrv wrote

You can also get huge discounts for near expiration food from restaurant supply companies. For $25 - 75, I buy a pallet, generally 2000 lbs of food. We don't know what we'll get and the deal is we have to take it all.

We distribute anything human usable thru our network. Anything we can't give away goes to our cattle, pigs, chickens, and a wildlife sanctuary that feeds bears, wolves, tigers, etc.

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SirReal_Realities t1_ja8bl9k wrote

Damn. You live in an urban area or outside the US? Assuming it is Flashfood (one word) app, it doesn’t look like any store does that in my area. Shame, I would love to buy discounted uglies.

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PM_me_oak_trees t1_ja8ggn8 wrote

My experience growing up in a rural area was that you could shop during the last hour before closing on different nights until you run into the manager who has to clear out the old produce etc. Make friends with that person and come back on the night they work, and they can probably get you good deals on whatever is about to be tossed. YMMV, and of course you have to be a bit of a night owl to make it work, but those were the best produce deals I've ever seen.

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OogumSanskimmer t1_ja8h3nt wrote

It looks like it's mostly in north east states and Canada. Nothing in the southeast except a couple in Florida. Too bad. Would have been nice.

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hrcen t1_ja8jo9n wrote

Yea, my mom got my wife and I onto this. It is super nice when it is close to the weekend and I can grab up some chicken for a quick Saturday/Sunday smoke for a reallllllly affordable price.

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ryneches t1_ja89hrx wrote

I've always thought there's kind of a missed opportunity with this. If only 20% of the inventory for something is left, that's a signal that it is desirable. Other retailers are able turn this to their advantage, but somehow grocery stores can't figure out how to present the last six avocados in an appealing way.

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TheSkiGeek t1_ja8czil wrote

It works with items that are fungible, like some specialty imported shelf-stable item. Because the last one is just as valuable as the first one, so you can capitalize on low supply causing a high demand.

With fresh produce, usually the nicest/freshest pieces are going to be taken first. So the last ones left are often bruised/damaged/discolored/otherwise undesirable in some way.

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AuburnElvis t1_ja8e99k wrote

"I got the last PS5!"🤩

"I got the last tomato"😞

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drLagrangian t1_ja8h34t wrote

Not to mention Gwen tested all the other tomatoes for ripeness by squeezing them. So the remaining tomatoes are all squishy.

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the_original_Retro t1_ja7xqvf wrote

Adding Customer Appeal as a big factor as well.

A lot of "exotic" products on store shelves simply don't move. You can see some stuff there that has clearly not been getting much sales.

So why does the store even carry it then, if they could put something there in its place that would probably sell more?

The answer is because that weird item might be the ONE reason a customer goes to THAT store rather than A DIFFERENT store that doesn't carry it. And while inside, that customer thinks "Hey, I need milk and bread too... and oh, wow, an extra vegetable for tomorrow night's soup, and... and... and..."

By keeping slow-selling items in stock, stores can attract customers to them. So a percentage of their space is reserved for low-demand inventory.

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invalidmail2000 t1_ja837wm wrote

Yeah exactly. I worked in the produce department at a grocery store in high school, a pretty nice suburban one. We carried so many of the more exotic fruits because originally someone asked us to carry dragon fruit so we would order a handful of them every few weeks for essentially that one person who then would do all her shopping at our store.

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etoleb123 t1_ja82y2o wrote

And that’s just one of the “loss leaders”, where you lose $ on some products to get customers who will make you money elsewhere. Years ago (may not still be true) a buddy who was a VP at Walmart said they lose their shirts on bananas. They want theirs to be the greenest bananas out there so that people associate their food with freshness.

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CuriousCanuk t1_ja81bfo wrote

This. Supermarkets get trucks every day all day, The stock doesn't stay around long

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Shazam1269 t1_ja8b1tx wrote

We called it Just in time inventory. Looked at historical movement while taking account for out of stock inventory. Our goal wasn't to have maximum possible stock, but enough stock as it's needed. That way we didn't carry excessive inventory, just what we would need when we needed it.

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Kael_Alduin t1_ja8k1ue wrote

> profit is the ultimate goal.

Everything else can be ignored and this is the real takeaway

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