Question about how ordering services work in department stores or one in particular.

October 10, 2008 12:37 PM

Question about how ordering services work in department stores or one in particular.

A couple of weeks ago I went into some shops and bought some clothes and also ordered a new jumper from Marks & Spencer’s (I'm in the UK). Always picky, I decided on the one colour, grey, which wasn’t actually in the shop at my size. I was told that the garment would be in the shop between Wednesday and Friday this week unless I heard otherwise. Sure enough at 10:03 am on Wednesday a message was left on our service. It’s still on there and here is a transcript:

“This is a message for (you, meaning me), I’m sorry to tell you we could deliv… Hello, this is a message for (you), this is Marks and Spencer’s, I’m sorry to say we could get your order today, thanks. Bye.”

The gist is there. No jumper. But not much else. I rang them back yesterday. What followed was something of a wake up call for someone like me who doesn't do a lot of clothes buying and assumed that like everything else in the modern world that things had moved on in the clothing retail industry. Here’s what I discovered:

(1) The jumper was indeed not in stock, with none in the warehouse, and no idea when more would be manufactured

(2) That, at least at M&S, an order can’t be kept open on the computer, so that when stock does come in I can be contacted, which means that ..

(3) … basically the order is cancelled and it's up to me the customer to go into the shop again and place a separate new order although ..

(4) … apparently there is a written diary and a reminder can be put in there, but it depends whether someone on the counter quote: ‘remembers to look in it on that day’

(5) That having checked her computer the nearest available jumper is in Leeds

(6) No they can’t transfer it to my local store. If I want it, they can post it out to me at £3.50 postage and packing

(7) There’s also one at the website. When I asked if they could transfer it from their warehouse to here I was told no ‘because we don’t have access to the internet'

(8) I checked the website. That colour isn’t even an option. Though oddly there is photo of a man wearing it. It doesn’t look half as good on him (blink).

I could completely understand if I’d made this phone call in the 80s or 90s – but in 2008? I’m assuming that the reason that this kind of stock transfer doesn’t happen is the expense of shifting a single item between stores and they’d much rather the cost burden was with the customer who wants the damn thing. But I can’t see how this is that different to an inter-library loan in a library, and there you have an extra expense of having to ship the item back its source.

Clearly I don’t know anything about how Marks and Spencer’s supply their stores, but I have to assume that a van takes the stock from a warehouse somewhere to the individual store and then an almost empty van returns to the warehouse for the next load (assuming there isn’t some kind of stock return). That kind of run must happen at least once a week, if not daily.

I’m amazed there isn’t a network in place whereby when a van turns up at a particular shop, customer requests from other stores in the chain are loaded up for the return journey to the warehouse and then loaded onto another van going to the shop it has been ordered from. I know this sounds like the kind of bizarre idea cooked up by a disgruntled customer in the aftermath of a unsatisfying phone call, but I'm genuinely surprised by all this (I'm generally surprised by most things, but still).

So I’m Asking Metafilter, do I have an over extended expectation of how distribution systems work in department stores and this one in particular?

posted by feelinglistless to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (2 answers total)

I could completely understand if I’d made this phone call in the 80s or 90s

These systems were probably developed in the 80s.
posted by These Premises Are Alarmed at 1:02 PM on October 10, 2008

Best answer: Bear with me, I get to a point later:

I recently ordered an exercise ball to use as a chair at my work. One week after ordering it at (bigathleticequipmentcompany)fitness.com, we had not seen a shipping confirmation. I called the number in the order confirmation email and the phone was answered at (completelydifferentcompanyI'dneverheardof)fitness.com (who claimed they are "The most recognized name in fitness"). I was told the order had gone through and there was one in the warehouse, and the guy said he would now "send the order on to the warehouse" for shipment. Another week passed, no ball. I called again, was told the ball had actually been out of stock, was now in, and should be shipped "in the next few days". Several days later it arrived - the wrong color, and with the box shredded (though that appeared to be the fault of the shipping provider). (The included pump was also assembled wrong; I had to rebuild it before it pumped air out the nozzle rather than took it in there.) I called again to complain a bit and was informed that the color we wanted (which is what was shown on the website) was not in stock anywhere, and they had no idea when it would be - they were waiting on them to be made in China, and didn't know when or even if any would be made or sent to them. No backordering available, as with your story.

So as I see it, this company has leased (bigathleticequipmentcompany)'s name, sells whatever cheap crap they can get from China under that name, and has terrible communication between their ordering system, their fulfillment system/warehouse, and their supply system. Perhaps they don't even have a warehouse, maybe they sub that out too.

I think the ability to do this sort of disconnected merchandising is fairly new, and likely some businesses that used to handle everything themselves may have moved to this sort of thing. Could be the case with M&S as well (which is how my story ties in with, if not necessarily answers, your question). We regularly deal with another company that will not do backorders for less than $50 - if they're out, you just have to try again next time. So other parts of the answer may be: poor foresight/lack of knowledge by the people who wrote the ordering software the clerks use; poor setup of the ordering/inventory control system by those who set it up; and inability or unwillingness of those able to change it to do so.
posted by attercoppe at 11:47 AM on October 11, 2008