Archived Accurate inventory count issues?

[restroomFollowUp]

I just wanted to see if any other stores were having issues with inventory. We have had a lot of guests drive over to our store because the app said we have the item they’re looking for, only to find out that the zebra gave us the dreaded “0 on hand.” We’ve also had issues where we’ve called other stores that the zebra claims have the items in stock only to find out that they never were. All these issues seem to be recent and I just wanted to see if this was a nationwide issue. It seems like it happened around this whole push for online orders and drive up.

 

[Llamanatee]

I just wanted to see if any other stores were having issues with inventory. We have had a lot of guests drive over to our store because the app said we have it only to find out that the zebra gave the dreaded “0 on hand.” We’ve also had issues where we’ve called other stores that the zebra claims are in stock only to find out that they never were. All these issues seem to be recent and I just wanted to see if this was a nationwide issue

Yep. It’s been like this for a while now. I told guests to just call because the app has been inaccurate lately.

 

[Bosch]

I don't believe a count unless I am actually looking at the item.

 

[Mikuhl]

Did it happen to be a movie? Target will say your store has EVERY MOVIE EVER MADE in stock, even if you don't sell it, don't have it, never got it. This is a problem they will have to fix because SBT owns them now.

 

[seasonaldude]

Yeah, it happens all the time. There is a delay between the time an item is sold in store and when the count on Target.com and the app updates. The delay can be up to a day. For example, the other day I had an order for an item that I couldn't find initially. It was listed as 0 on floor, 0 in back, 0 on hand. When I clicked through to look at the details on it, I could see that it was delivered that morning and last sold 2 days ago. Hmmm....but that 0 on floor count if it was just delivered? Yeah, already sold but not updated completely in the system.

There are all sorts of other reasons why your counts can be off. But, delays in the system updating are a big one.

 

[Llamanatee]

Did it happen to be a movie? Target will say your store has EVERY MOVIE EVER MADE in stock, even if you don't sell it, don't have it, never got it. This is a problem they will have to fix because SBT owns them now.

The only ones they don’t own are Sony and Disney, but it’s still wrong for all of them. Even when you check sister stores it’s still wrong.

But I have this happen on a lot of items. The app always tells me limited stock on the baby formula I buy, even though our hand will be 6. The app will never let me order it, so I miss out on online only promos because of this. @seasonaldude I think it’s more than there being delays. There’s other on hand issues going on with the app.

 

[NPC]

It's more common for inventory to be wrong, than for it to be right.

 

[seasonaldude]

The only ones they don’t own are Sony and Disney, but it’s still wrong for all of them. Even when you check sister stores it’s still wrong.

But I have this happen on a lot of items. The app always tells me limited stock on the baby formula I buy, even though our hand will be 6. The app will never let me order it, so I miss out on online only promos because of this. @seasonaldude I think it’s more than there being delays. There’s other on hand issues going on with the app.

It's more that just the app then. It's problems with your store or the DC not sending you things it is supposed to send. If you have an on hand of 6 for baby formula, well most of them come in casepacks of 6. If that's not on the floor or located in the back, it's likely that someone backstocked it without properly locating it or the DC put a casepack it was supposed to send you on another store's truck. I've been directed to audit that out to 0 so we'll get sent more ASAP. If you don't want to do that, tell the DBO of the section so they can look through the back to find it and then audit if it can't be found.

But, I'll definitely second what @no nix nein wrote. That's the straight truth.

 

[Llamanatee]

It's more that just the app then. It's problems with your store or the DC not sending you things it is supposed to send. If you have an on hand of 6 for baby formula, well most of them come in casepacks of 6. If that's not on the floor or located in the back, it's likely that someone backstocked it without properly locating it or the DC put a casepack it was supposed to send you on another store's truck. I've been directed to audit that out to 0 so we'll get sent more ASAP. If you don't want to do that, tell the DBO of the section so they can look through the back to find it and then audit if it can't be found.

But, I'll definitely second what @no nix nein wrote. That's the straight truth.

I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. We will actually have the baby formula and I have to buy it in store. I grab it off the shelf. The my device will have the same on hand as what it in store, but the Target app on my phone will tell me it’s either out or limited and I cannot order it.

I usually buy on Sunday, which is a non truck day for my store.

 

[seasonaldude]

I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. We will actually have the baby formula and I have to buy it in store. I grab it off the shelf. The my device will have the same on hand as what it in store, but the Target app on my phone will tell me it’s either out or limited and I cannot order it.

I usually buy on Sunday, which is a non truck day for my store.

Oh, OK. Not an inventory issue. Basically, items that get listed as limited stock are not eligible for pickup at your store. I'm not real clear on how the decision is made on which items at whicch stores cannot be ordered online. Generally, Target.com has no problem letting someone order the absolute last one of an item that a store is supposed to have. Some items are a no order though and inaccurate inventory isn't the reason for that.

 

[Llamanatee]

Oh, OK. Not an inventory issue. Basically, items that get listed as limited stock are not eligible for pickup at your store. I'm not real clear on how the decision is made on which items at whicch stores cannot be ordered online. Generally, Target.com has no problem letting someone order the absolute last one of an item that a store is supposed to have. Some items are a no order though and inaccurate inventory isn't the reason for that.

The weirdest part is that I have no problem ordering it for pick up from a sister store. Ugh.

 

[seasonaldude]

The weirdest part is that I have no problem ordering it for pick up from a sister store. Ugh.

Maybe MySupport it if you have an hour to kill on the phone? If you aren't able to do that, then perhaps use the feedback app and say that lots of guests have asked why this DPCI you have in stock isn't eligible for pickup. I don't know, but that might work.

 

[restroomFollowUp]

The only ones they don’t own are Sony and Disney, but it’s still wrong for all of them. Even when you check sister stores it’s still wrong.

But I have this happen on a lot of items. The app always tells me limited stock on the baby formula I buy, even though our hand will be 6. The app will never let me order it, so I miss out on online only promos because of this. @seasonaldude I think it’s more than there being delays. There’s other on hand issues going on with the app.

It was a movie, but I verified that it wasn’t one that was brought in by a vendor, it did say every single store had 2 on hand. It even said this for my own store which we clearly didn’t. My lead had me manually audit the DPCI, she said that’s all we could do.

 

[restroomFollowUp]

It would be nice if the stores just had a day where instead of focusing on the daily zone we actually went through and put in the counts for every single item, the zebra is pretty quick so it wouldn't take that long, but I don’t think accurate counts are a priority. I just know that it’s probably very frustrating for AP when nothing is accurate.

 

[Endlessbackstock]

This is a daily occurrence at my location. On hands are always different than (on floor+in back), which shouldn’t be the case. Customers always complain daily about the internet saying it was at the store when it wasn’t. They could easily fix this by NOT posting on hand amounts in the public website because it’s almost always incorrect.

 

[Endlessbackstock]

It would be nice if the stores just had a day where instead of focusing on the daily zone we actually went through and put in the counts for every single item, the zebra is pretty quick so it wouldn't take that long, but I don’t think accurate counts are a priority. I just know that it’s probably very frustrating for AP when nothing is accurate.

Zoning is a joke at my location. The areas I am over are totally trashed by teenagers and thieves, and the worst time is between 3-8 pm

 

[Ringwraith917]

zebra is pretty quick

Compared to how fast the PDA research app was, it's slow AF. Idk how long ago that was now, 6 years maybe? And shooting OUTS was soooo easy. A team of 4 could shoot research in 20% of the store and outs in the other 80%, every day of the week.

 

[Logo]

Stores in my area fixing their data integrity. It's a process for sure! Waco by waco!

 

[ShortTM]

What does research mean? I've heard it before but have no idea

 

[Ringwraith917]

Old term meaning Audit. It would change the on-hand counts in the system.

 

[Noiinteam]

Miss those gray dots!

 

[restroomFollowUp]

Compared to how fast the PDA research app was, it's slow AF. Idk how long ago that was now, 6 years maybe? And shooting OUTS was soooo easy. A team of 4 could shoot research in 20% of the store and outs in the other 80%, every day of the week.

Interesting, I haven’t worked for Target long enough to see how the PDA’s work. We still have them in our supply closet and I see people from food using them but I don’t know if it’s because of a specific application or just preference.

 

[restroomFollowUp]

Stores in my area fixing their data integrity. It's a process for sure! Waco by waco!

Are they just doing it through “audit” ?

 

[FriedTL]

I found a couple packs of them in my desk a few months ago. I left them there for nostalgia. I miss the in stocks team

Miss those gray dots!

 

[SFSunicorn]

The weirdest part is that I have no problem ordering it for pick up from a sister store. Ugh.

Does your store have SFS? If yours does and the other store doesn’t, then that could explain it. Your store may be expecting ship orders for the formula and that’s why they label having six as “limited.”

This is just a guess, I could be very wrong. Other replies are definitely correct. Online system takes awhile to update what is in the zebra and counts can be off for a plethora of reasons