Full Store Count

This procedure is for those who have completed their Level 1 Checklist and are candidates for a full store count. We strongly discourage a store from engaging in a full store count until their Level 1 Checklist is fully complete and you are sure most of your RC variances are caused by bad initial QOH.

Candidates for Full Store Count

  1. Have a completed Level 1 Checklist
  2. Checklist Month 4 IRA Plot is less than 80%
  3. Checklist Month 4 IRA Avg is less than 80%
  4. Are not experiencing a sustained upward trend in IRA
  5. RC variances are indicating bad initial quantity-on-hands

  6. Have all your questions answered by Mango Support (734) 301-4510 or support@mangoreport.com

Do Not Count When
If your last month's Plot IRA is greater or equal to 80% then congratulations, you do not need to engage in a full store count! All the hard work you've put into improving your store's Level 1 - IRA is paying off! Continue to work on your accuracy processes through Mango's Best Practices and careful variance research your store should continue on its accuracy path and be past Level 1 within the next 3 months. You do not need to engage in a full store count!

Do Count When
If your last month's Plot IRA is less than 80% and you think your store is a good candidate for a full store count based on the guidelines above then this is the place for you. Performing a full store count is a lot of work but if you have really concentrated on your Level 1 - IRA Checklist then a full count will boost your IRA significantly and your store should be able to maintain an IRA above 80% for a long time. We have seen stores go 5-10 years before another full store count was needed and there are many stores who may never need to engage in a full count until a significant reset or remodel.

Gearing Up!
Your goal is to perform a "Blitz Count" which is done as quickly (and carefully) as possible where SKUs on your sales floor (as opposed to every SKU in your inventory file) is counted. By now and because you've been following your Level 1 Checklist, you know who your good counters are, have back stock in good order and labeled and have your departments flossed. More importantly, you have an inventory coordinator who can supervise variances and catch big errors while the count is underway. You should devote as many people as possible to this task and get it done as quickly as possible (within 15 days) and consider performing some of the counting at night while the store is closed.

Counting

  • The goal is to do a mini flossing of the aisle you're about to count before you begin counting. Just 1 month ago you should have performed a floss on your entire store which means that almost everything should be in its correct bin or shelf location. This mini floss can be performed by the person counting or you can have your department head do a good flossing right before the count.

    1. Login to the Eagle Mobile+ app.
    2. Click on Physical -> by Item.
    3. Click on the Gear in the bottom left.
    4. Change Fields 1-4 to the appropriate options.
    5. Click save in the bottom left.

  • Overview
    A full store count is a large undertaking and will require the coordination of many team members. The strategy is to count location by location as quickly and as carefully as possible. Counting is best performed when the store is closed where you are able to move freely about the store without interruption from customers. This process is done with a minimum two-person team of your best counters, but more people helping speeds up the process. 

    Counting Back Stock Items
    Inevitability you will find yourself counting items that are also located in top stock or back stock. As part of your Level 1 - IRA Checklist, you have already purged your back stock, labeled those items, and given them a good physical count. When you count an item labeled as containing back stock during your blitz count, we recommend you accept the count already in the computer. This will speed up the counting process, cause fewer errors, and variance research.

  • Make sure your Inventory Coordinator is supervising the counting process by regularly looking at PIP and correcting bad counts. Establish a dollar threshold where any variance +/-$15 (for example) is recounted. Your goal with this type of counting is to get good quality counts to set your store so you can perform quality variance research in subsquent months. Do not worry about variance research right now.

  • Inventory counts entered into PIP from Eagle Mobile+ updates the item’s quantity on hand only after the RPI is run. To create an RPI to finalize the inventory counts, follow the steps below.

    1. On the Eagle Browser Launch line, type RPI and press Enter.
    2. Set up the screens as indicated below:
      • Print Setup
        In the Print To field, select S – Spool Only
      • Options
        In the Reconcile Options field, select these options:
        F – Finalize Counting
        I – Change Location Codes
        S – Show Detail
        V – Print Variances Only
      • From / To
        No need to specify a range
      • Miscellaneous
        Print Sequence – Option 5 (Location/SKU)
      • Fax Setup
        No input is required.
    3. To run the report, click Run (F4).

  • This also may be a good time to locate your entire store. Mango's Location Code Best Practice.

  • For those who want to engage in a more detailed count, you can set up a viewer to catch SKUs in a location range where Last Physical was not updated during your count.