Best Buy rolls out a web-based system to report new-product sales

When products have a history of sales, it`s easier for retailers to figure how much to stock in stores to meet demand. But new products typically require retailers to guess at initial stock levels, running the risk of selling out of a hot-seller--or being stuck with a dog. That`s why Best Buy Co. Inc. is rolling out a new web-based store inventory system that provides updates of inventory levels every 15 minutes.

"The system allows us to look at the first few hours of a sale and see if we have enough in stock at each store location," a spokeswoman tells InternetRetailer.com.

The web-based Retek Store Inventory Management system from Retek Inc., following a test last year in Minneapolis stores, is on course to be in all of Best Buy`s 540 stores by this summer.

In addition to helping maintain in-store stock levels, the system will be used as a customer service tool to help shoppers in case the product they want is not available in a particular store. Employees will be able to use the browser-based system to check availability in other nearby Best Buy stores.

Store personnel will be able to access the system from several points, including kiosks on the sales floor, POS terminals and back-office desktops. The spokeswoman says Best Buy may even let employees access the system over demo computers on display.

A particular advantage of the web-based system, she adds, is that it`s easy for all employees to use. "The training time for employees was less than a day, more than 50% less than other systems," she says. "We didn`t want a mainframe-based system that our 16-year-old clerks couldn`t navigate."