In modern retail, maintaining optimal stock levels is crucial for meeting customer demand while managing inventory efficiently. The minimum Display feature, designed to ensure a minimum quantity of products is available in stores, thus enhancing customer experience and maximizing sales.
What are the Minimum Display?
Minimum Display is the configuration of a minimum number of units per product size and store location. This threshold is crucial for replenishing or allocating stock based on the algorithms used by Nextail. This parameter is set at SKU/store level, ensuring that a baseline quantity of each product is consistently available to customers.
During the onboarding phase, you will be able to decide whether to set minimum displays at the beginning or end of the planning horizon. This means the quantity you set will either represent the minimum number of units you want in your store inventory at the end of the planning horizon or include the demand forecast for the planning period. As a best practice, we suggest setting this at the end of the planning horizon in order to avoid overstocking your stores and generating high coverages.
Soft Minimum vs. Hard Minimum
Nextail differentiates between two types of Minimum Displays:
Soft Minimum (Force = False): The algorithm considers other factors, such as demand and warehouse scarcity, to determine whether maintaining the minimum is beneficial. If product scarcity is detected at the distribution center, the system might not fulfill the minimum requirement if it is not deemed worthwhile.
Nextail’s algorithm is assessing whether it is worth fulfilling the minimum display requirements for each SKU. When a product begins to experience stock scarcity at the distribution center, the system evaluates if meeting the predefined minimum level is optimal.
For instance, if a SKU’s minimum configuration for a store is set to 5 units, Nextail’s algorithm may decide to send fewer units (4, 3, 2, 1, or even none!) based on factors like forecasted demand, current scarcity at the warehouse and sales thresholds.
Hard Minimum (Force = True): In this case, the system will always fulfill the minimum quantity configured, regardless of other variables like demand forecast or stock scarcity at the DC. The focus is on maintaining this threshold without exception. Nextail does not use any algorithmic evaluation for minimum coverage. As long as there is stock available in the warehouse, the system will always fulfill the configured minimum quantity. This approach disregards demand forecasts or stock scarcity at the DC and simply ensures that the set minimum quantity is met.
Priority in Case of Warehouse Scarcity with Multiple Hard Minimum Displays
When warehouse stock is limited and there are more hard minimum display requests than available inventory, the system prioritizes fulfilling hard minimum displays with the highest demand. This ensures that high-demand SKUs receive stock first, maximizing availability for items with greater sales potential.
How the System Works
Forecast and Threshold: The system first analyzes the demand forecast and sets a sales threshold for each product.
Stock Availability: Based on stock availability at the warehouse, the system either fulfills the minimum display or adjusts it accordingly. If there is enough stock, the minimum quantity is replenished without consideration of demand. However, if stock is scarce, the algorithm will determine if fulfilling the minimum display is still necessary based on forecasted demand.
Global Optimization: The system also uses global optimization strategies to ensure that minimum displays are maintained where they add the most value, balancing stock levels across different locations.
Importance of Minimum Displays
Minimum Displays keep key products in stores, reducing the chance of stockouts and lost sales. Hard Minimum Displays are especially useful for popular or promotional products that need visibility.
How to upload the minimum displays in the platform?
To upload minimum displays, update the template with the following headers:
- SKU Ref and StoreCode: SKU and store codes for minimum display application.
- Desired_Min: The minimum quantity of units desired.
- Force: Set to 1 for Hard Minimum or 0 for Soft Minimum.
Note: All the templates are also available to download under Knowledge Base > Templates.
Then, go to Daily Data > Data Upload and select Min Display for replenishment or Min Display FA for first allocation.
In Summary
Nextail’s Minimum Display feature offers a flexible, intelligent solution to keep stores stocked while maximizing inventory efficiency. By balancing demand, stock levels, and other key factors, retailers can optimize product availability, meeting customer needs while minimizing stockouts.
