MEGATHREAD 2018-2019 Store Modernization Megathread

[Ashfromoldsite]

Ok, and company-wide that was 5.3%, including SFS, so obviously your store is an anomaly.

22% overall. We have a huge sfs.

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

I would say you're wrong on that one. If thats the case Target wouldn't have spent a ton of money on a day long sales training for all the TLs and up then required us to have a class with our TMs to train them. They're pushing to engage the guest more than ever before. It's the whole point of getting rid on inbound and moving more team members dayside.

It’s true. I read an email from our dtl that our stl forwarded on. Dtl said do NOT ask cihyfs”. Greet, make quick small talk, and get back to stocking. Don’t spend too much time with the guests. Guide them and get back to stocking. Don’t hold their hand. Dtls words.

 

[gsa4lyfe]

It’s true. I read an email from our dtl that our stl forwarded on. Dtl said do NOT ask cihyfs”. Greet, make quick small talk, and get back to stocking. Don’t spend too much time with the guests. Guide them and get back to stocking. Don’t hold their hand. Dtls words.

I think that’s your DTL afraid to fail with this new process because that’s not the direction from HQ, that’s his/her direction.

 

[Ashfromoldsite]

I think that’s your DTL afraid to fail with this new process because that’s not the direction from HQ, that’s his/her direction.

I disagree. At our trainings in store last year right after the etls went to training, we were told the same thing.

 

[PackAndCry]

Why 2018 is the year of modernization for Target

The retail chain spent 2017 testing new algorithms, processes and facility structures, but this year will be about deploying them to scale.

www.supplychaindive.com

Modernization has a lot to do with online sales.

You're right. When we can't find anything because the "Modernized" processes mean it's all sitting unpushed in the backroom or out of location in the backroom because there's too many cooks in the kitchen, we end up INFing it and double Target's shipping cost for the order!

 

[Rarejem]

I think that’s your DTL afraid to fail with this new process because that’s not the direction from HQ, that’s his/her direction.

Pretty sure that Ash and I are not in the same district...definitely not the same store and we both got the same message.

 

[flow4areasonuno]

we end up INFing it and double Target's shipping cost for the order!

This is a thing that really happens?

 

[can't touch this]

This is a thing that really happens?

it's been known to happen at least 4 times company-wide. At least.

 

[skrepo1977]

I disagree. At our trainings in store last year right after the etls went to training, we were told the same thing.

Then it is your GVP that is afraid to fail. They can get easily replaced like used wetnaps.

 

[Planosss]

Continue Modernization and end up like Sears.

Please express these views to your store leadership. Tell your hr, stl, or etl. Tell them you think modernization is bullshit. Believe me they’ll listen to you, and you don’t have to deal with it anymore. I promise.

 

[PackAndCry]

This is a thing that really happens?

If we can't find it, that part of the order gets cancelled and sent to another store, so now Target paid for shipping twice.

 

[No I in Team]

We need to both reconfigure, and automate our DCs. DC workers earn more than store level staff. Essentially, you want the lowest paid workers performing the unskilled labor.

Apparently they're having a harder time retaining help than the stores. I read somewhere in their forum that they did monthly wage surveys to prevent attrition.

As for the re configuring, apparently we don't have the capacity to take one off line. Why we don't pull the trigger and build new DC? I don't think we're honest enough with our current position in Minneapolis to admit we have a problem with our inventory management system. This could be why the NJ DC has gone all but silent, did not work out for the wrong reason.

 

[No I in Team]

Shipping isn't paid for until you at the store finish the packing process.

It depends on how we allocate our cost. I would suspect the shipping process begins with the order drop. Most likely we allocate cost/minutes since this appears to be the units of time we're measured on. This would explain the emphasis on order picking time and then packing.Once the order is processed and waiting for p/u, the cost meter stops and does not restart until the package is shipped or returned to stock. The lag times for p/u and/or cancelled orders should fall under another cost category all together.

The actual cost of shipping via a carrier is created upon the trailer leaving the dock (FOB Shipping Point). It doesn't matter if it is a selected carrier or a Target Trailer, we pay for it.

 

[No I in Team]

This is a thing that really happens?

Yes

Cancelled orders are tracked. They can be very costly as they consume resources the same as completed resources. This of course is proportional to the time the order is placed until it is cancelled.

 

[No I in Team]

I think that’s your DTL afraid to fail with this new process because that’s not the direction from HQ, that’s his/her direction.

Our ETL even made mention of this to us.

The reality is that you can't serve two masters. A busy store will just kill any attempt to push freight with any consistency. We have times where the team members have to stop and leave the area so guest can shop. They are literally in the way and annoying the guest.

When the store is open, the first priority is the guest period. Without them we have no store to open.

 

[Mrlogistics]

Almost a year ago?? Never happened in my store. Our TL's never went to a hotel conference, either.

I believe this meeting was only for leader in sales areas. Style, beauty, and electronics only.

 

[GreasyGary]

It depends on how we allocate our cost. I would suspect the shipping process begins with the order drop. Most likely we allocate cost/minutes since this appears to be the units of time we're measured on. This would explain the emphasis on order picking time and then packing.Once the order is processed and waiting for p/u, the cost meter stops and does not restart until the package is shipped or returned to stock. The lag times for p/u and/or cancelled orders should fall under another cost category all together.

The actual cost of shipping via a carrier is created upon the trailer leaving the dock (FOB Shipping Point). It doesn't matter if it is a selected carrier or a Target Trailer, we pay for it.

Either way, shipping cost goes up when an item is INF'd. I'd imagine the system prioritizes stores that are in the closest shipping zone to the customer, so even if it's a one item order, moving it to a further away store will increase the actual cost of shipping that package.

If it's a multi item order, you've now created an additional package coming from further away for an item that would, most of the time, just added a little weight to the original package. I'm actually a bit surprised the system doesn't occasionally cancel out a whole order if there are a couple of INFs, because of the possibility of creating multiple extra packages if the next store doesn't have both cancelled items.

And that's just the actual shipping cost. Doesn't even consider the labor of having the first person searching for it, then the duplicate effort put in at the second store to pick/pack it.

There's also inconvenience to the guest. I ordered an item during Christmas with rush shipping that was supposed to arrive the next day. After bouncing around due to INFs, it finally shipped 2 days later from across the country. So it took 9 days to arrive instead of coming the next day. That's probably one of the more extreme cases, but it does happen.

 

[PackAndCry]

Shipping isn't paid for until you at the store finish the packing process.

Yeah, but INFing one item doesn't cancel the rest of the items from the original store, so if you fulfilled 2 of the items and the other store had to fulfill 1 item because you INF'd it, that still means they had to pay shipping twice.

 

[MajorChomp]

Z

Almost a year ago?? Never happened in my store. Our TL's never went to a hotel conference, either.

When I joined target last year we all went to a sales conference in a hotel. TLs (style, salesfloor(Electronics),and beauty), STLs and the DTL for our district was there

 

[GreasyGary]

I mean. Sure. But the price is cheaper in the first store as you're now shipping less weight. But I get what you're saying.

Not by much. Unless the item is super heavy, the amount saved from the reduced weight is going to be next to nothing, whereas the creation of a new package is a significant expense.

 

[SuperTarget]

So basically what I’m getting out of this thread is don’t INF unless you absolutely have to (which should be obvious). I must be missing some context...

 

[GreasyGary]

So basically what I’m getting out of this thread is don’t INF unless you absolutely have to (which should be obvious). I must be missing some context...

Yeah the reason it came up was because some of us think that modernization is going to cause INF rates to go up since it will increase the chance that an item either hasn't made it out to the sales floor or wasn't properly backstocked.

 

[No I in Team]

Yeah the reason it came up was because some of us think that modernization is going to cause INF rates to go up since it will increase the chance that an item either hasn't made it out to the sales floor or wasn't properly backstocked.

No thinking about it, it happens all the time due to how we process incoming freight. Our acknowledgement process does not allow for the inventory to be updated upon completion of the process. We do a very poor job when it comes to understanding how to work with a "live inventory system" as a company.

 

[No I in Team]

Z
When I joined target last year we all went to a sales conference in a hotel. TLs (style, salesfloor(Electronics),and beauty), STLs and the DTL for our district was there

Once again, ASANTS.

 

[seasonaldude]

Yeah the reason it came up was because some of us think that modernization is going to cause INF rates to go up since it will increase the chance that an item either hasn't made it out to the sales floor or wasn't properly backstocked.

I can see it going either way. It will depend on the individual TMs in each area. I don't like the idea of items sitting on vehicles in the back for longer, but those are generally findable. Items being improperly backstocked is more concerning, but as that's already a major cause of my INFs I'm not going to prematurely mourn the loss of a dedicated backroom team that "can supposedly avoid those problems."

I can see it going well. My store's market team is a well-oiled machine. If an item is supposed to be in a location either on the floor or in the back, it's there. INF's are so rare in market that they can almost always be chalked up to the DC putting something we were supposed to get on another store's truck. I can see it going poorly. My store's electronics team is a mess. Things don't get pushed for days. Floor and backroom counts are always way off even after they claim to have done a complete audit. It could be mixed. My store's beauty team has one really great TM who does everything she can to get the section right and the others are well, less good.

If that's what the current modernized sections are like, I'm guessing it will be the same for the general merchandise sections after they are modernized.