Retailer Store Specific Orders (SSOs) allow suppliers to direct products to specific locations. Suppliers use them to dial in the right amount of inventory for new item launches, in-store promotions, and solve out-of-stock issues. This article explains what SSOs are, when to use them, the challenges they pose, and how to get results using an efficient and effective approach.
Store specific orders (SSOs) are usually executed by the Buyer or Replenishment Manager (RM). But it’s left to the brand owners to inform the Buyer or RM on what stores need additional inventory. SSOs are important in ensuring that stores have enough inventory to meet customer demand and prevent lost sales. They help maintain a positive relationship between the supplier and the retailer by providing a quick solution to unexpected stock shortages.
SSOs primarily send additional products to a specific store to curb out-of-stocks. The common cases for when to generate SSO are:
For example, a leading retailer such as Walmart guarantees to buy (x) number of units, but the supplier is responsible for submitting as many orders as necessary to get that inventory.
You know your demand will increase more than forecast and you need to get more product to the shelf or in-store display.
Unsellable stock needs to be replaced quickly to ensure your stores don’t suffer from out-of-stocks.
Automated replenishment systems will not order more product if the system thinks you have inventory.
Generating an SSO for a single item is time-consuming due to the following:
Ensuring that your SSOs follow one of the necessary rules, such as warehouse package rounding, is a major hurdle that suppliers face. This necessary calculation makes sure that retailers’ warehouses can process and divide pallets correctly before sending items to stores. Without this, your SSOs will be rejected.
Imagine now needing to make multiple revisions of your SSOs while trying to get your logic correct before being able to submit the order for approval by the RM. If the logic is incorrect, you must go back and recalculate, which is a time-consuming process.
At TR3, we have eliminated the pain of creating SSOs with our easy-to-use SSO Script Generator. Hours of manual labor can be reduced to seconds with the click of a button to produce SSOs that meet retailer’s guidelines (including shipping rules). Giving users back their time so they can focus on other aspects of their business.
Guaranteed SSO time savings for your toolbox
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