Advancing levels can be hard work! Use the table below to help set your expectations when starting a new level.
| Time & Difficulty Expectation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Level | Difficulty | Time | Resources & Notes |
| Operational Level 0 - Completion | Easy | 3 months | Devote labor to counting SKUs on monthly Count Sheets. |
| Operational Level 1 - IRA | Hard | 1-2 years | Commit to IRA Checklist: Inventory Coordinator, Variance Research, Cashier Testing, Shooting Outs, etc. Store culture embracing accuracy from put-away to check-out. Adhere to Best Practice. |
| Operational Level 2 - Dollar Accuracy | Easy | 1-3 months | Easy fix if Boundary problem or cleaning phantom inventory (if new to Mango). If a result of Shrink (Op. Level 3) then working on Shrink will eventually resolve. |
| Operational Level 3 - Shrink | Hard | 1 year | Commit to Shrink Checklist especially Variance Worksheet, and classifying inventory as appropriate. |
| Operational Level 4 - Efficiency | Easy | 6 months | Simply count inventory less frequently. |
| Level | Difficulty | Time | Resources & Notes |
| Productivity Level 0 - Unproductive | Hard | 1 year | Commit to Closeout Management (COM): monthly identifying SKUs, importing markdown sequence, and deploying closeout bin tags. Actively reduce Overstock. Unproductive measure lags, consider using COM Fusion for the lead measure. |
| Productivity Level 1 - In Stock | Easy | 1 year | Simply process Mango In Stock Opportunity on the Retailer Analytics Dashboard (RAD). In-Stock Measure lags considerably. Consider using In Stock Fusion for the lead measure. |
| Productivity Level 2 - Assortment | Easy | 3 months | Simply add inventory from Mango Assortment on the Retailer Analytics Dashboard (RAD). Stores with limited square footage may have a hard time passing this level without expanding retail space. |
Pep Talk
The level difficulty will vary depending on your store's current inventory position and store operations, versus the level goal and best operational practice. Do not get overwhelmed, simply select your level and work down its checklist. Achieving and maintaining inventory accuracy and productivity is a day-to-day effort involving the whole organization, and is best ingrained in your store's operational culture; it takes time to move the needle sometimes. The work is worth the effort though, an accurate and productive store is easier to manage, has less theft risk, results in optimized inventory investment, and better sales.