Sony channel stuffing PS3's to retailers (w/ pics).. AGGRIVATING.

[dunno001]

Wow, there's quite a few people in this thread who don't know how corporate retail works. Sure, smaller stores (ie, not part of a large chain) have more direct control over what they order, and other industries (like fast food) also have more control at a store level. But a company like Gamestop or Best Buy doesn't work like this at a store.

For a large store, orders are placed somewhere in the corporate ladder. (Usually, this is at a regional warehouse.) This warehouse then ships out to the stores for replenishment. Now, though, is when things tend to get tricky. A product that is in abundance in a warehouse will frequently be told to move it out to make space for more stuff coming in- by getting more to stores, it facilitates a possible store-level promotion to remove stock at their end, or a larger company promotion. (Suffice it to say, if this supply has been growing since September, it's not for a promotion.) Also, if a warehouse has excess stock that it ships out, it will also tend to scale orders back... if it can.

What, "if"? Yes, there are times when companies institute "quota sales" on items. Standalone Move wands are in short supply in many areas. However, Sony may be setting a ratio on this item- for every 10 wands shipped, you must order 10 Move bundles and 10 PS3s. Since these are also items that will eventually sell, they go ahead and place the order to get what they need now- the wands. This does cause a glut of other products, which are also not returnable while the quota is in effect, since they would be negative values, and thus, lower the number of what they need being shipped.

There is one thing that the store should do, though: verify that the inventory in their own system is correct. If there was a missing purchase order (generated by regional warehouse) at the store level, the warehouse may think they have fewer systems, and thus, need more. (Usually this is a problem in reverse with restocking not happening from theft.) Otherwise, there's not much that can be done at the store level. They can make a request to not have any more shipped for a while, but the automation of the system means this will usually be ignored. Some chains may allow a district or regional manager to request a stop shipment, but this usually takes a drastic action. (I've seen this once in retail- our district manager saw that our stockroom was nothing more than a walking aisle from the backstock, and 16,000 more units were due in tomorrow morning.)

So it's not as simple as some would like it to be. And before anyone starts saying anything, I have seen all of these in my time with retail. I'm guessing it's the quota problem that's striking; it's been the reason behind almost every single overstocked item I've seen...