RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. — The average 100-store food retailer spends $4 million annually addressing shoppers who ask the question, “Do you have any of this in the back room?” That was one of the findings of an out-of-stocks report discussed here yesterday by J.P. Brackman, global retail presence manager, Procter & Gamble, in a presentation at the 2008 Grocery Manufacturers Association Information Systems/Logistics Distribution (IS/LD) Conference. Published last fall, the report, “A Comprehensive Guide to Retail Out-of-Stock Reduction,” was sponsored by GMA, the Food Marketing Institute and the National Association of Chan Drug Stores, and funded by P&G. “That’s a lot of cost answering one question,” said Brackman. From the shopper’s point of view, he added, shoppers can spend as much as 21% of their shopping trip waiting for an answer to that question.

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