Stocktaking Services

• Sale Transfer Stocktakes

Retail Stocktaking specialises in sale transfer stocktakes and acts confidentially and independently without bias on behalf of both the purchaser and the seller. Our fees are very competitive and we have acted for a large number of clients including; Costcutter, Day Today, Londis, Spar, Best-one and Nisa by example as well as an extensive list of independent shops and pharmacy businesses.

We count all stock at retail prices using our hand held terminals (subject to a full product file being made available by the seller, which has to be tested and our software customised to provide a cost value).

Manual stocktakes can also be undertaken where product files are not available. We count all saleable stock at retail and apply our industry standard discounts to realise a cost figure to be agreed by both parties.

Stock certificates are provided immediately after the stocktake.

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• Inventories

On the whole, we are asked to provide inventories for a number of retailers including high street names. We record every single product using hand held terminals which includes information such as quantity, description, price and barcode by example. We can also detail information relating to the quality of products. Manual inventories can also be undertaken where product files are unavailable from the client. Again, we take instruction from clients on the format and level of detail required.

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• Stocktake Solutions

By using an external stocktaking company you can trust that all stocktaking/auditing will be done independently.

Accuracy is our forte and we invest in the latest technology to ensure we are at the forefront of the stocktaking industry. We can collect and upload data automatically into our customised software to allow us to generate management reports. This may assist in improving any stock losses, inaccurate stock quantities, delivery issues etc.

In-house stocktakes can incur a huge amount of manpower. We take this burden away and allow store staff to concentrate on maximising sales, which in turn may increase the bottom line profits.

We can provide full wall to wall stocktakes, delivery checks, high value item checks and various other types of stocktakes/audits as required by clients.

We carry out effective stocktaking which assists management/businesses in identifying which products are fast selling and which are slow selling. This can, in turn, assist in profit maximisation. Replenishment of stock can also be identified to see if this is being done to management satisfaction. Overall, these services can assist with sales analysis.

Using latest technologies, our experienced staff can gather and distribute information to from one location to another and help provide an overall picture of stock at any point in time. This helps to ensure stock is always replenished. Transfer of stock between stores, departments and depots can be traced by our experienced audit teams and we can help identify any anomalies against the physical stock. We can help ensure stock has the correct barcodes and that merchandising rules are followed.

Retail Stocktaking Ltd. offers an extremely confidential service and offer free, no obligation trial stocktakes. All product files will need to be checked and tested. Site visits would also be undertaken.

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• Stocktaking Procedures

All product/data files will be tested prior to any stocktake/inventory.

Stocktaking systems include laptops, hand held scanning terminals and our own customised software which is owned by us and can be tailored to meet specific client requirements. Data can be scanned or entered manually by our stocktaking staff.

All locations are labelled with our identi-tags to ensure all of the required stock is captured. A walk around takes place before and after any stocktakes, stock checks and audits with management to ensure all items are accounted for. An audit log is maintained throughout the stocktake. The data file containing all stock is uploaded into our systems. The print outs by location are checked against audit logs to ensure optimum accuracy.

Management reports are available immediately after stock counts and again, can be customised to meet client needs. Back office uploads can also be applied if required.

Free trial stocktakes are also available.

We offer 7 day service/support and our full attention at all times.

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• Warehouse Audits

Warehouse audits/stocktakes are part of our stocktaking portfolio. We can count stock by bin locations, provide inventories, variances etc. by location.

Data can be scanned, counted or checked manually against existing stock information.

Management reports are available immediately.

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• Audits

Promotional Compliance Auditing

We appreciate that retailers put a lot of effort and investment into POS materials and promotional offers. These campaigns effectively need to be rolled out throughout branches. It is of paramount importance to a business that any promotional activity is successful throughout the life span of any campaigns that are in place.

Our company can undertake audits on an ad hoc basis, unannounced, to verify that all campaigns are on display as required to ensure maximum coverage to potential customers.

We will independently provide accurate reports to head office for analysis to help improve ROI (return on investment).

Warehouse Stocktakes/Audits

Warehouse audits/stocktakes are part of our stocktaking portfolio. We can count stock by bin locations, provide inventories, variances etc. by location.

Data can be scanned, counted or checked manually against existing stock information.

Management reports are available immediately.

Picking Audits

We can arrange for picking audits to be undertaken to audit the performance of pick teams and analyse accuracy of the teams present. We can gather information on inter store transfers. Our barcode scanners can assist with pick checks, price checks and inward and outward product checks. The replenishment of stock can also be identified.

Equipment Tracking & Audit

We appreciate in some organisations, it may be time consuming and somewhat difficult to locate/know the whereabouts of equipment. On occasion, the loss of equipment, pallets, cages etc. can be a huge cost for business.

As part of our commitment to assisting organisations increase profits and helping the day-to-day running of businesses, we can assist with the monitoring and tracking of equipment on either a regular basis or on an as and when required basis.

We can investigate/report on areas of the supply chain and look at areas such as reporting damages and quality of equipment. Any losses can be illustrated. We have a facility whereby we can tag any equipment to monitor any movement or disposal.

For help with asset management or other auditing solutions, please don't hesitate to Contact a Member of the Team

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• Equipment Tracking & Audit

We appreciate in some organisations, it may be time consuming and somewhat difficult to locate/know the whereabouts of equipment. On occasion, the loss of equipment, pallets, cages etc. can be a huge cost for business.

As part of our commitment to assisting organisations increase profits and helping the day-to-day running of businesses, we can assist with the monitoring and tracking of equipment on either a regular basis or on an as and when required basis.

We can investigate/report on areas of the supply chain and look at areas such as reporting damages and quality of equipment. Any losses can be illustrated. We have a facility whereby we can tag any equipment to monitor any movement or disposal.

For help with asset management, please don't hesitate to Contact a Member of the Team

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• EPOS Verification

Clients who are looking to install an EPOS system may find it to be a challenging procedure. With our experience, we can assist clients by undertaking a stock count and creating an accurate inventory of all stock in a data file, which can effectively be uploaded into a client's system.

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• Delivery Checks

The movement of stock between locations can be risky in terms of stock loss. We undertake delivery checks regularly as part of our business model. These include retailer checks, warehouses etc. and we have fed all information on losses, damages and overages by example to client head offices.

Home delivery shopping demand is also ever increasing, that's why at Retail Stocktaking Ltd. we can assist with any home delivery checks.

We can identify any damaged stock, check the delivery notes against physical stock to ensure pallets etc. have the actual stock that is noted on delivery notes. Again, we can report findings to head office.

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• Barcode Scanning Equipment Rental

We appreciate that certain retailing businesses wish to record and manage their own stocktaking. This is why we offer to rent our handheld terminals, customised software, laptops and printers for a small fee. Furthermore, we can provide training on our systems if required to ensure a smooth stocktaking process. On some occasions we have also provided a supervisor to operate the systems.

We also maintain our equipment and keep it up-to-date with the latest technologies and software. We offer 7 days a week service and support.

Management reporting solutions can also be utilised using our equipment. We, however, would recommend utilising our services as our staff are very experienced and we believe independent services are the most effective due to staff errors, bias, pilfering, lack of training and potential loss of sales if staff are involved with stocktakes and not the selling process.

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Retail Stocktaking

• Departmental Checks

Businesses may want to concentrate on specific departments in terms of stock checks. This may be high value items or perhaps areas where certain departments are not doing as well as expected. Our experienced teams can undertake stock checks on certain departments to identify any problem areas/room for improvement. Our reports are available immediately after any stock checks. This would also save costs to businesses in comparison to a full wall to wall stocktake.

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• PI Counts

In businesses PI (Perpetual Inventory) or continuous inventory, as it is also known describes systems of inventory where inventory quantity and availability is updated on a continual basis. This is generally accomplished by connecting the inventory system with order entry in a retail point of sale system.

It is our aim to help businesses reduce stock shrinkage (loss of products between point of manufacture or purchase from supplier and point of sale) and it relates to the difference in the amount of margin or profit a businesses can maintain. Obviously if there is a large amount of shrinkage then profits will go down thus resulting in increased costs to the consumer to meet the needs of the retailer. We do this by identifying fundamental product lines which can be checked regularly through a PI system. The key products are highlighted against the full product file.

Some retailers may choose to implement an inventory management solution offered by an external company such as Retail Stocktaking Ltd., which allows for better control over inventory and will alert businesses of the source of the inventory/stock shrinkage. Businesses having a more accurate account of inventory provides significant cost savings. With successful analysis, costs associated with stock-outs or excess inventory can be reduced.

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• Utilising Client Equipment

On occasions, specific clients ask us if we can utilise their handheld scanning equipment which is linked to their EPOS systems. Generally, they require us to do full wall to wall stocktakes, upload into back office systems and allow them to undertake management reporting from the data source provided.

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• On-shelf Availability

Our stocktaking/audit teams can visit branches to do on shelf availability audits. This can be done on a discretionary basis to ensure an accurate reflection of stock available on shelves.

It is of paramount importance that supply chain management is optimised and that products are delivered to branches when they are supposed to be to prevent losing any potential sales.

All reports are available immediately after inspection to assist management in taking the necessary actions.

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• Back Office Uploads

For various clients, we upload stock data into their back office systems to allow management reporting including, PI counts, unknown item reports, variance reports, stock overages, missing stock etc.

We generally do full wall to wall stocktakes on a regular basis, and at each stock count, any variances in stock are identified and management can act on these immediately to help improve stock management and the overall bottom line of the business.

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• Promotional Compliance Auditing

We appreciate that retailers put a lot of effort and investment into POS materials and promotional offers. These campaigns effectively need to be rolled out throughout branches. It is of paramount importance to a business that any promotional activity is successful throughout the life span of any campaigns that are in place.

Our company can undertake audits on an ad hoc basis, unannounced, to verify that all campaigns are on display as required to ensure maximum coverage to potential customers.

We will independently provide accurate reports to head office for analysis to help improve ROI (return on investment)

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• Profit Protection Assistance

We are always looking to assist clients and help reduce any loss on their bottom line profits. That is why we have a professional team who can provide cost effective yet flexible solutions to any issues a business may have. We can help reduce stock shrinkage by helping reduce costs for businesses as shrinkage causes additional costs e.g. extra labour to mitigate shrinkage or extra shipment and administration costs to compensate for losses. There is also the cost of not selling - defensive merchandising i.e. locking up expensive beauty or electronic goods etc. loses sales as shoppers may not ask to unlock cabinets and customers may decide not to buy. Cost of out of stock - shrinkage can cause out of stocks when demand for the product is not satisfied. Shoppers can delay the purchase, substitute the product or leave the store when confronted with out of stock thus resulting in the additional cost of lost sales.

Internal (recorded by company i.e. empty bottles found, non-scanning items)/external (i.e. items recorded which cannot be resold or empty bottles etc.) theft identification can be carried out.

We can look at physical loss in terms of damages/wastage/spoilage. Pricing is another area which can cause losses by errors in which goods are priced and sold. For example goods coded incorrectly on the store inventory system or staff incorrectly pricing products on shelf or stockroom. This can be easily identified using our technology.

Planogram assistance can be provided by us whereby stock is placed in certain areas and stock is counted by location in planogram order to identify slow and fast moving stock. This can also help impulse buying from customers to generate increased sales of products.

Errors in the reading of stock on retailer systems can be detrimental to a business by retail buyers or suppliers incorrectly inputting item set up details that lead to stores receiving fewer items than identified. For example promotional items that are not correctly associated with the book stock database.

In house auditing may also lead to errors in stock being incorrectly entered i.e. incorrect counts of items that are located in multiple places. Thus presenting a case for an external stocktaking company such as ourselves to undertake stock counts.

Errors can also be generated by product movement. In particular, in receiving of goods, transfer, returns or refunds e.g. shortages on delivery from a manufacturer or distribution centre or perhaps transfer to other stores being incorrectly recorded.

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