On 18/04/2005, at 8:50 AM, Peter Hinchliffe wrote:
On 17/04/2005, at 8:06 AM, Edward Arrowsmith wrote:
I feel the retailer should take more responsibility as they are about
to lose not just one customer, but also myself as a second (and I
won't be recommending them again), and potentially more, as all those
watching this episode are quite appalled at the time lag and would
definitely not make a purchase there. This crew is also very
iPod/Shuffle savvy and this market is also lost to this retailer.
Unfortunately, there's not much the retailer can do in these
circumstances. I agree, the situation is inexcusable, but not
necessarily the retailer's fault.
Speaking from personal experience, I have a client who ordered a Mac
Mini from me almost 2 months ago, and to this day my Apple wholesaler
has had no indication from Apple as to when they will become
available. Fortunately, the client is a diehard Apple user so there's
no question of switching. He has been very understanding since he has
been though this sort of thing before with Apple, although not on this
time scale.
Again on a personal note, my daughter and her boyfriend were chasing a
pair of iPod Shuffles at the beginning of March. They scoured the iPod
dealers of Perth (not just AppleCentres) and were told at every stop
the units would not be in stock until April. They went to Apple's
online store and had them within the week!
Believe me, this is just as frustrating to retailers and suppliers as
it is to the end customer, but it's the poor old retailer who cops all
the abuse and loos of good will. It's a huge marketing problem which
Apple Australia just has to address if they seriously want people to
switch (or even to stay).
It is a real 'chicken and the egg' situation with Apple Australia and
resellers. Apple say they will get more stock in if resellers order
more. But resellers don't want to get caught with huge quantities of
stock if Apple suddenly change models (remember, resellers hear of
model changes the day the rest of the world does - they only second
guess by looking stock availability at Apple).
And neither really want to hold lots of stock, as stock on shelf
(according to the Tax Department) is profit. And profit is subject to
Company Tax (30%). So if you have larger levels of stock on the shelf
at the End of the Financial Year than the previous year, that is viewed
as profit and subsequently taxed. That's one reason why Apple don't
have any stock at the end of each quarter (but I am not sure how that
would affect Profit and Loss reporting - ask an accountant!).
Furthermore, stock on shelf is tied up capital. If you wrongly
purchase too much of one item thinking it was going to be a hot seller
and it bombs, that could be $10k of your capital sitting on the shelf
that you can't use to purchase the real hot sellers (and with margins
of some products, you can't even sell at cost to promote a good
saving!).
So both Apple and resellers work on the JIT principle (Just in Time),
which means each holds little stock, but is able to access stock
faster. For example, Apple figure out how much stock they will need
for the quarter, based on previous time periods and current reseller
ordering levels. Then they know that what they get in will move
straight out to the resellers, thus not leaving anything in the
warehouse. Then resellers can fulfill their orders and not leave much
on their shelves. The days of seeing huge amounts of stock on shelves
are long gone.
The one problem with JIT is that you are at the mercy of the supply
chain. If there are courier delays, no stock. If there are production
delays, no stock. If you are on the bottom of the order list with the
supplier, no stock.
That's the way I see it anyway. Nobody wants the risk of having too
much stock, as the overheads can be a real killer. Great system for
the US, not so good for a small population like Australia.
Seeya
Rod!
