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Vendor Managed Inventory

Alliance Entertainment VMI Services

AEC is recognized as the leader in the specialty field of Category Management with a customer portfolio that includes; Barnes and Noble, Walmart, Best Buy and Meijer. The VMI management team has extensive experience in the marketing and sales of home entertainment products and, as a team, has worked together for more than twenty years. AEC works as a partner to provide a solution tailored to the client while working within the boundaries of the retailer's corporate culture.

Alliance Entertainment VMI Services Chart

Proprietary Inventory and Category Management Systems

AEC's proprietary VMI software is designed specifically to manage categories whose sales are fashion driven and unpredictable. Functionality includes:

  • Inventory management at the individual sku level by store
  • Shipment tracking
  • Dynamic ranking and product allocation matrices
  • Promotions management through planogram and event trending algorithms
  • Comprehensive business analysis and monthly reporting packages

VMI Merchandising Services

AEC's marketing solutions are customized and flexible to achieve each account's specific needs and goals. Our solutions include; complete on-going program solicitation and execution, exclusive programs based upon specific releases, programs based upon specific events, programs designed for a particular type of consumer and in-store permanent and promotional signing design and production.

Other services provided for our customers may include:

  • Vendor solicitation and negotiation
  • Creation of corresponding point-of-purchase materials
  • Design plan-o-grams to aid in maximizing execution at the store level
  • The promotions master details a store's planogram, sets new stock levels for promotional SKU's and communicates price, promotional signage, and position on fixture

In-Store Operations

AEC will provide in-store service via a team of 3rd party service providers. The service representatives will provide services to include:

  • Resetting the POS and Floor display planograms on a monthly basis
  • Ensuring that any recent shipments have been correctly merchandised.
  • Executing promotional setups, price-changes and RTV's.

Inventory and product placement are handled using technology including:

Replenishment-Type Logic determines the appropriate replenishment algorithm for trending SKU's based on desired weeks of supply strategy. Each store has a volume code for each category, which is recalculated weekly based on actual performance. These volume codes are used in matrices representing product allocations, minimums, maximums, or reorder points assigned to execute a specific task.

Utilizing daily POS data, transmitted via EDI, AEC monitor's sales and makes any necessary adjustments to models replenishment orders. The VMI system identifies hot selling titles and sales trends by store, enabling rapid replenishment. Store specific replenishment orders are generated based on a combination of, model stock levels and sales trending.