As a former supply chain consultant my primary expertise was in MRP (material requirements planning). Reorder point was one of the keys. In the Philippines and in my house there seems to be a crazy phenomena that the reorder point is when the stock level reaches zero. When you are out of stock you might consider reordering; hence, "out of stock" once again. I give up, my consultation doesn't work at home.
Exactly the same here! I once thought my wife realized that we should get more food when running low, but that was just wishful thinking …. It’s not until I’m sitting down to dinner and reach for some ketchup to then realize no stock I have learnt to live with it
I must have succeeded better at this then; I often refer to our pantry as my asawa's "little sari-sari store".
We are somewhere between out of stock and a sari-sari. Probably hoarders. We have it but it's easier to go out and buy more than it is to find it.
Well, it depends what kind of goods we are talking about. Is it about certain food, cigarettes, beer beer, or stuff like that, I will not get any notice until it is out of stock. Even if I had asked 10 seconds before. No chance. If it comes down to cosmetics, soap, shower gel, hygienic stuff, lipsticks, cleaning utensils and stuff like that, our stock is probably bigger than Robindons, Hyper Market, Lee Plaza and City Mall together. Probably bigger as Lazada's as well. I gave up and take it as it is.
The topic of "out of stock" has been discussed in this forum several times. But it's true, Filipino sellers love this expression because it's so versatile and it seems to be their national pastime.Why Filipinos create their own "out of stock" situations at home is a whole other question. But if you ask about a product in a store, it could actually be "out of stock," but it could also never have been in stock, the seller didn't understand you or didn't want to understand you, it's in stock but the seller is too lazy to look for it, it's ordered but not in stock yet, etc. And if you ask the seller when the product will be available again, the seller has one more joker up their sleeve. Don't be surprised if he says "I don't know". That-s just their way of saying " I don't care". It is more fun in the Philippines. Sometines. Gesendet von meinem M2101K6G mit Tapatalk
Never keep anything in your front pockets. When asked for a loan, pull your pockets inside out and declare SORRY OUT OF STOCK.
Getting this "out of stock" reply is embarrassing and annoying. There is no doubt. Many times they are out of stock indeed but I learned as well that if you get this reply you should not be shy to ask the same question just to a different sales person. Miracles happen. I did it more the once and the second or third guy just walked away and came back with the stuff a few minutes later. Especially City Hardware is good for that. Of course it is annoying and embarrassing. On the other hand why should a sales guy or a waitress work his / her @ss off for 350 or 400 Peso a day ? I experienced quality of service in restaurants and shops dependes significantly whether the owner is around or not. If you leave low wages pinoys alone it will end up in a desaster most of the time.
Before you all get on your western high horses try actually running a business here. It is nothing like the US, EU, AU/NZ, Singapore. Yes, perhaps some suppliers dont have any inventory management but this is only a small percentage of the problem. The suppliers are often out of stock and that would lean 60/40, the 60 being out of stock. They also regularly have limited expiration dates on stock they hold so just saying buy more stock is just a rubbish money wasting statement. Major product local distributors also state they are not allocated stock they need to meet local demand. In Manila and Cebu the same distributor has stock and we have resorted to moving accounts from Negros supply to Manila which is then sea freighted here, adding cost, numerous delays which also eats into expiration margin. Also on the shipping there is close to zero customer account service with updates and ETA's. Constant calls to ask the ETA mostly go unanswered or the generic response "its at the port awaiting a ship booking". They are reliable, no breakage or missing items, but zero updates or tracking making it impossible to estimate delivery within a 2-4 week time frame. Yes you may have had one great experience with 2Go or similar getting one box here, but cost conscious local suppliers and repeatability make shippers like these unfeasible. The complete supply chain has issues, 2 out 10 suppliers would be considered reasonable by western standards and they are Manila based suppliers who do not ship to the province. The rest are head scratches on how they remain in business yet some are 45 years old. Negros is the "province", Wikipedia states it is a "3rd income class component city". Coupled with the logistic shipping issues (absolutely no reasonable cold chain supply avenues for small to medium business) you have a constant response of out of stock. Perhaps moving to Manila or Cebu city is the only time you should complain and not living in a remote part of a 7000 island archipelago is best for most. All these complaints just sounds like complaining for complaining sake.
