Kmart slogan is Lower Prices For Life, but sadly my local Kmart has a huge 'stock reduction' problem. This is a 5 day study of what's moving out of store but this time I visit the store in the quiet times of day. It reveals a disturbing repeated trend of the same activity in the same areas over and over on a daily basis. Of course Hot Wheels car packs are a very popular pick, but so is Pokemon Cards, Cosmetics, Clothing, Electronics, Smartphone Accessories, Pet supplies, Collectable Toys, Stationary and basically just about anything in store.

This time around I point out what I feel are the weaknesses in store design and some really simple things that could be done to add tamper proofing to all ANCO stock lines. I'm starting to understand the times that the stock in store is being manipulated. I certainly understand the places in store as it's been the same spots over and over for almost a year now. When I find stolen or manipulated stock I take it to the back of store so staff can set it up as 'mark down' specials. But even doing this does not stop the nasty thieves from picking off more stock. The weakness of the 'wire spider' system can be seen in this video.

I do look at the Pokemon stock on day one and again on day five. It's amazing what I see. I show how Pokemon stock is displayed in a neighbouring Kmart. The ANKO brand is a in house Kmart brand that means 'A New Kind Of' which was set up from 2008. Kmart is a fantastic place to shop, amazing prices always but it makes me really sad to see how just a few people cheat the system. There is new AI technology creeping into retail that can assist in shoplifting problems and understand customers identity but privacy advocates are strongly against this technology.

In 2013, Kmart began a rollout of new store layouts. Garden plant sections were removed, and back of store areas were cut back. There was an expansion of floorspace to stock and an increase in the height of displays. The stores were given a more 'Department Store' feel with front of shop checkouts replaced with an area for nonself serve customers to pay at in the centre of the store. This new layout is I believe a huge factor in the problem I see going on.

Web Links :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Wheels
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kmart_A...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoplif...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supply_...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%...