Short Delivery, Damaged Soap and Near-Expiry Biscuits
It is 9:10 a.m. and the store opens at 10:00. A tempo delivers 14 cartons. Carton 7 is supposed to contain 24 packs of soap (MRP ₹45 each). The delivery person is in a hurry and says, 'Sign fast, I have three more drops.' On opening carton 7 you find 22 packs: two packs are crushed and leaking, and the invoice says 24. Two other cartons contain biscuits with manufacturing dates seven months old and best-before dates only two months away. The stockroom has one empty shelf and the soap aisle is already half empty. The delivery person has the only copy of the invoice. You are the stock assistant; the store manager is on the phone with head office. The store's receiving policy requires a signed copy of the invoice with discrepancies noted before the delivery person leaves.
1. What should you do before signing the invoice? List the steps in order and explain the risk of signing first.
Read the worked answer
Before signing – protect the store's claim
- Do not sign a clean copy. Sign only after the discrepancies are written on the delivery document, or sign 'received subject to remarks'.
- Count cartons against the invoice: 14 cartons. Then open carton 7 and count the soap: 22 packs, not 24.
- Inspect the damage: two packs crushed and leaking. Photograph them with the carton and the date code visible.
- Check the biscuits: record the manufacturing and best-before dates for the two cartons. Seven months old with two months left is saleable but must be flagged for early action.
- Write the remarks on the delivery person's copy and yours: 'Carton 7: 2 packs short, 2 damaged/leaking. Biscuits batch ... best before ...' Ask the delivery person to sign both copies.
- Keep the documents and call the manager before the delivery person leaves. If the driver refuses to sign, note the refusal, the time and the vehicle number, and photograph the document.
Risk of signing first: the store accepts 24 packs and the supplier's record is clean. The two missing packs become the store's shortage, the damaged packs become the store's write-off, and the near-expiry biscuits cannot be returned. The store pays for stock it never received.
2. How should the damaged soap and the near-expiry biscuits be handled in the stockroom and on the shelf? Apply FIFO and write-off rules.
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Damaged soap
- Quarantine immediately: move the two leaking packs to a marked 'damaged/RTV' bin, not the shelf. Leaking soap damages neighbouring stock and looks unsafe.
- Raise a return-to-vendor claim with the photographs and the signed remarks. If the supplier rejects the claim, get the manager's written approval for a write-off.
- Do not sell damaged packs at a discount without approval; a leaking pack can injure or annoy a customer.
Near-expiry biscuits
- Apply FIFO: put these cartons on the shelf in front of any newer stock, not in the back. The oldest date must sell first.
- Flag and monitor: write the best-before date on a shelf check sheet. If the store marks down near-expiry items, do it early enough to sell before the date; if not, arrange return or write-off before expiry.
- Do not mix near-expiry packs into a fresh display without a visible date check; a customer who finds an old pack loses trust.
Judgement: damaged stock is a claim, not a sale. Near-expiry stock is still saleable but must be managed by date, not hidden.
3. The soap aisle is half empty at opening. What should you do to protect sales without hiding the shortage?
Read the worked answer
Fill the gap without hiding the problem
- Put out the 22 good soap packs and front-face them. A neat, partly filled shelf looks better than a shelf with gaps at the front.
- Check the stockroom for the same SKU before assuming a shortage. If only one empty shelf is available, clear it and label the space.
- Do not stretch unrelated products across the soap space or leave a misleading 'offer' tag. That confuses customers and breaks the planogram.
- Tell the manager and raise a replenishment request for the two missing packs and any safety stock. Record the out-of-stock on the shelf audit so the buyer sees the lost-sales risk.
- If asked, tell the truth to customers: 'That pack is out of stock today; this one is the same size.' Do not promise a delivery time unless it is confirmed.
Why: the immediate risk is lost sales and a messy aisle, not the two packs alone. The record of the out-of-stock is what prevents the same gap next week.