Planning a better inventory
Question 1 Nordstrom has famously been known for its lean retail prices and its tight inventory. Nordstrom uses demand forecasting to minimize leftover inventory. Nordstrom’s total corporate management is based on two main goals. One is to associate purchasing with demand to keep inventory as lean as possible. Second is to present customers and sales associates with a wide-ranging view of Nordstrom’s entire inventory, including all stores and warehouses. Nordstrom relates purchasing with demand to keep inventory lean and show customers and employees Nordstrom’s inventory. Nordstrom keeps its items in stock for an extremely short period of time so that if a customer wants it, they only have limited time to purchase it. Compared to Macy’s who keep items in their inventory for 119 days, Nordstrom keeps its items in inventory for 62 days. Other than relying on day-to-day sales, Nordstrom only discounts certain items and plans for more profitable and productive sale prices.
Question 2
Nordstrom benchmarks to assess the success of their web-based inventor system by discovering what other organizations are doing to succeed and incorporate those ideas into their own operations. Competition for Nordstrom will be intense against Banana Republic, Macy's, and Nike; big shoe selling companies but if they take certain qualities from each one and link them with their own, their web-based inventory will be a great success. They could make the web-inventory more user friendly, so it wouldn’t take as long for the customer to find that exclusive item that they want. Also, they could keep the items that are not in the store after the 62 days online, so the customers are not limited to a certain number of days. Lastly, they could add even more shops to the already huge online inventory.
Question 3 Participatory planning includes the people who will be affected by plans and who will be asked to take action. Equitability and
References: Men 's Apparel: All Clothing for Men | Nordstrom. Nordstrom: Free Shipping. Free Returns. All the Time.. Retrieved February 28, 2013, from http://shop.nordstrom.com/c/mens-apparel?origin=leftnav Men 's Apparel: stretch shirts | Banana Republic. Apparel, Handbags, Shoes and Accessories for Women and Men | Free Shipping on $50 | Banana Republic. Retrieved February 28, 2013, from http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=79399 Nike Store. Men 's Jackets & Vests. Nike. Retrieved February 28, 2013, from http://store.nike.com/us/en_us/?l=shop,pwp,c-1+100701/f-10002+12002+4294884413 Shop Mens Coats and Mens Jackets - Macy 's. Macy 's - Shop Fashion Clothing & Accessories - Official Site - Macys.com. Retrieved February 28, 2013, from http://www1.macys.com/shop/mens-clothing/mens-coats?id=3763&edge=hybrid