Travis makes another really great point with this comment:
I've said this before too. Sometimes, your client does NOT want to issue
chargebacks. It's a myth that these are a profit center. I used to talk at
length with JCP, and their logistics people would tell me that their goal was
for the goods to hit the dock on time, without a problem, properly labled, and
get routed to where it's going. If they have to re-lable, re-route, manually
create an ASN etc, it slows down the process and costs them money, which they
pass on to the vendor.
Yes, he's right - it's a myth... But one that always seems to gain ground.
We're actually one retailer that doesn't have charge-backs for (at least) our
EDI trading. But, then again, we're also not a just-in-time kind of vendor,
either.
If you're a manufacturer or a distributor/wholesaler, you need to take a step
back from your world and see a bigger picture from the viewpoint of the
retailer. Let's just say that you make bikes... Nice mountain bikes,
affordable and strong and you can sell them by the boat-load through Wal-Mart,
K-Mart, Target and a rash of sporting goods chains that have low prices.
Normally they retail for about a $100.00 US.
Now, I'm that sporting goods retailer and I want to have a big "opening season"
sale on bikes. You and I come to an agreement that you'll give Me an extra 10%
off cost if I order 3000 bikes. So I do. And I plan a big ad event for those
bikes... I'm going to feature your bikes for $75.00 each, plus offer package
deals on helmets, pads and all the stuff that goes along with the bikes. I
order the bikes with a requested delivery of March 1. I've got it all planned
out that it will take Me a week to get the stock out to My stores (March 7) and
I'll have the ad break for the following weekend (March 12). I've got the ad
event out in the media (direct mail, newspaper inserts, the works!) and I've
got the signage all set for the stores and all the associated merchandise being
shipped in, as well. It's a huge undertaking.
Now you come to Me on February 20 and tell Me that the bikes aren't going to
arrive until March 5, which means I can't get them out to My stores until March
12 - the weekend. Now suddenly I'm going to have to pull some strings to get
the stock to the stores quicker, the stores ready to have the bikes built and
displayed AND I'm going to have to have the stores work some overtime to get it
all set and ready to go. But, maybe, just maybe, I'll have the centerpiece of
My ad event - YOUR BIKE - in stock and ready for the sales event.
Now, it' may not be your fault. It could be that US Customs kept the ship in
port a few days longer... there was a strike at the port... The freeways
around the port were under construction... Whatever. But now I'm scrambling to
make that event work out.
That's why you get charge-backs from many retailers - because the delay in
getting the goods to the stores costs them money. Just as Travis was talking
about. Maybe the bikes didn't need to be relabeled or rerouted - but I'm still
out some money... and you bet I'm gonna pass that buck on to you - and get it
paid. That is, if we did charge-backs.
But, luckily, we've been doing retail for well over 50 years and we've kind of
got our processes down. It means we have to carry a slightly larger than
average inventory - we have to order larger volumes and really think out and
plan out our ads and maybe even order that product an extra month in advance so
that we don't' have to contend with logistical issues or delayed shipments.
And I also agree with Travis (and others?) about Adam's comment about not being
able to talk to the retailers that he's doing business with. While I don't
have to deal with them (as I'm one of them, too!), I'm fairly certain that
they're going to respond quickly to any issues that are brought to their
attention. Maybe it's that you don't have the correct contacts? I got a call
last week from a vendor asking about an invoice and why it wasn't paid. She
thought it was sent EDI (we don't trade the 810 yet) and we never even got it
in error. But she was calling Me because of some bad information and I'm the
EDI contact. You also have to realize that those EDI contacts you have also
have to contend with a large number of other vendors and maybe - just maybe -
you got lost in the shuffle...?
I'm a one man... person ... EDI department. I do it all - from monitoring the
VAN traffic, assisting buying and vendors with questions, creating the maps and
the documents and translations, working with new vendors on testing, fielding
the calls from this EDI provider or that provider, tracking down missing FAs,
tracking down errors and missing data in the documents, and so much more... Oh,
and I also have another hat (or two!) that I wear in My daily work... We've
got over 400 stores and over vendors and do quite a few hundred millions of
dollars in annual sales. It's not that tough. And yes, sometimes it may take
a day or two before I can reply back to your e-mail or phone call... But I
will and we'll get it resolved.
That's My two cents! Well, OK. It got inflated... it's a quarter!
Craig E. Dunham
EDI Coordinator
EYE Analyst
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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