CASE STUDY
The year was 1978 . As political unrest overseas slowly inched the US to the precipice of a second oil crisis , a fledgling family company was making its entry into the fuel industry with a single Arco convenience store . Since its days as a start-up in Oakland , California , Vintners Distributors has thrived as both a jobber and retailer . These days , the company operates a fleet of tankers and a chain of 133 c-stores throughout The Golden State .
Despite its considerable success , Vintners isn ’ t resting on its laurels . Over the last few years , it ’ s been rolling out its Loop Neighborhood Markets featuring a modern design , high-end food products and the latest technology .
“ In addition to providing great customer service and competitive pricing , as the market continues to move in the direction of fresh and organic foods , we want to be a leader ,” said Raman Goyal , Vice President of
Vintners . “ Although we still have the normal c-store products , we want to begin competing with businesses in the upscale foods market .”
Business challenge
While some of the industry is only discovering the benefits of item-level inventory , Vintners has been doing it since 1991 . In fact , by 1997 all of its stores were item-level . However , even with a progressive corporate vision , technological limitations presented considerable impediments to success . “ The Point of Sale ( POS ) at some of our stores didn ’ t integrate with the back office as well as we would ’ ve liked ,” said Goyal . “ Consequently , among other things , the scan data was sometimes inaccurate , which made it difficult to calculate Weighted Average Cost ( WAC ).”
In addition , Goyal says the reporting capabilities in Vintners ’ previous software system left a lot to be
LIKE MOST RETAILERS , WE USE THIS
VALUABLE DATA TO DEVELOP
IN-STORE
PROMOTIONS , BUT WE TAKE IT A STEP FURTHER .
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