Understanding the purchasing process is essential for retail stores to survive in today’s fiercely competitive business world. Retailers can pinpoint areas for improvement, streamline their processes, and ultimately improve the wholesome experience by analyzing the purchasing process. Herein, there is an analysis of the purchasing process of a retail store served in a past employment setting. It will include an objective evaluation of how it was to purchase things within the company based on the experience working there. It will outline the steps to obtain the products, how long they took, and any difficulties encountered. Finally, there will be recommendations on streamlining the purchase process to boost productivity and cut costs. The goal is to understand the retail sector’s difficulties better and offer suggestions on how retail establishments can improve their purchasing practices to compete in the market.
A Brief Description of the Organization
The goal is to examine this well-known chain retailer for clothes and accessories catering to the needs of men, women, and younger demographics. The business has operations in various US cities and purchases its goods from various suppliers and merchants. The store’s business strategy was to provide reasonably priced clothing to various clients, emphasizing regularly upgrading its stock to keep up with the newest fashion trends. With a focus on providing a broad assortment of sizes and styles to suit various consumer needs, the company’s product lines include in-house creations and branded goods from third-party vendors. The retail establishment takes pride in offering its consumers a convenient and pleasurable shopping experience while keeping competitive pricing and high-quality goods.
Acquiring Company Products
The process of obtaining items to use in my role was relatively simple during that period of employment. One could ask the store’s administrative personnel for smaller products like pens, notepads, and other supplies needed for daily duties. They would typically give them within a day or two. However, the procedure was more complicated when dealing with larger goods like computers. Under these circumstances, one would have to submit a request to the IT division, which would assess the employee’s requirements and offer an estimate for the required hardware. The IT division would order the equipment and handle the installation if the quote was accepted. Depending on the equipment’s availability and the IT department’s workload, this process could take several weeks. While acquiring smaller products was generally quick, larger purchases could take longer owing to delivery and installation delays. The time it takes to receive products could reduce by mapping out the process like this and locating bottlenecks (Urban & Rogowska, 2018). Also, more precise needs and specifications in the initial request could aid in preventing delays and miscommunications.
Difficulty in Obtaining Products
The wait time for ordered items in the retail store was one of the key challenges in getting merchandise. Several things contributed to this delay, including the lack of inventory or the supplier’s inability to provide the requested materials. When this happened, there would be delays in work and annoyance for workers who required the things to finish their tasks. Depending on the item ordered and the supplier’s capacity, different amounts of time were required to get the things. As a result of the missing items, these delays had an impact on the organization’s total productivity.
Another issue was with the caliber of the goods delivered. There have been situations where products were delivered but did not fulfill the requirements. In that case, the product had to be returned and a replacement ordered. Depending on the product’s availability, returning and acquiring a replacement would take several weeks. The staff might be unable to proceed with their tasks until the replacement product got received, which could produce a bottleneck in the process. The time and financial resources needed to return a product and get a new item affected the organization’s overall productivity.
Another issue was the lack of communication and transparency on the progress of item requests. When it came to the status of their requests, employees were frequently kept in the dark, which might be stressful and uncertain. This lack of communication had an impact on employee productivity since they could not adequately plan or prioritize their work without knowing the status of their requests (Campbell et al., 2020). Due to the ambiguity around the status of requests, work could not be completed on time, which impacted the organization’s overall productivity.
Improving Upon the Process
The retail outlet should have put in place a more robust inventory management system to solve the issue of the delay in obtaining requested items. The business might prevent stockouts and guarantee that supplies are available when needed by implementing a system that precisely tracks inventory levels and automatically produces purchase orders when goods reach a minimum threshold. The retailer could also forge ties with several suppliers to boost product availability, prevent stockouts, and avoid over-dependence on one supplier (Avlijas et al., 2018). With this strategy, the time it takes to get requested things would be shorter, and the purchasing process would run more smoothly overall.
The retail store could have developed quality control practices that include examining goods when they are received to ensure they fit the necessary criteria to address the quality problems with the products received. With fewer items needing to be returned, this would conserve time and resources (Knowledge at Wharton, 2020). Also, the company could develop connections with vendors who have a track record of supplying high-caliber goods. By taking this strategy, it would be possible to guarantee that the company consistently obtains items of the expected quality.
The retail business could establish a system for recording requests and informing staff members of their status to remedy the lack of communication and transparency surrounding requests’ statuses. It could include a software program or online portal for staff members to make requests and monitor their progress. The company might also set up specific deadlines for responding to requests and updating staff on their status. This strategy would increase worker satisfaction which is central to the overall company success (Gautier et al., 2022). It would also make it possible to complete work on time without worrying about the status of requests.
Conclusion
By analyzing and improving the process, organizations can ensure that they obtain the products they need promptly and efficiently. From this review of the retail store’s purchasing procedure, it became clear that the procedure has both strengths and drawbacks. While procuring products for internal use can be complex, the process of reselling goods was typically simple and effective. The difficulties include the inability to obtain requested materials on time, problems with the quality of products after they have been obtained, and a lack of communication and openness regarding the progress of requests. However, the company may speed up the purchasing process and raise employee satisfaction by implementing some changes, including better inventory management, quality control practices, and a system for tracking and conveying the progress of requests. In the end, a more effective purchasing process will assist the company in achieving its objectives and providing better customer service.
References
Avlijas, G., Milicevic, N., & Golijanin, D. (2018). Influence of store characteristics on product availability in retail business. E+M Ekonomie a Management, 21(4), 195–206. Web.
Campbell, S., Sharon Campbell-Phillips, & Daniel Phillips. (2020). Lack of communication between management and employees. SIASAT, 5(3), 32-39. Web.
Gautier, K., Bova, T., Chen, K., & Munasinghe, L. (2022). Research: How employee experience impacts your bottom line. Harvard Business Review. Web.
The high cost of returns: Should retailers rethink their policies? (2020). Knowledge at Wharton. Web.
Urban, W., & Rogowska, P. (2018). The case study of bottlenecks identification for practical implementation to the theory of constraints. Multidisciplinary Aspects of Production Engineering, 1(1), 399-405. Web.