Step 5 – Check the quality of the

good

Once the stock has been opened and unpacked the

next task is to inspect the goods. The goods need

to be checked that:

there is no damages or breakages

the stock is of the quality ordered

the stock is not out of date

the package hasn’t been tampered with

The following are issues that need to be considered

when checking the quality of goods.

Damage

The goods may arrive at your store damaged. This

could be due to a manufacturing error or has more

likely occurred during transit.

Cartons may be damaged if they are incorrectly

packaged, squashed or dropped. They could also

be damaged by rough use of trolleys and poor

manual handling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Q6_9A90cUk

All goods should be checked for damages

including:

• dirty marks

• broken pieces

• cracks or chips

• faded areas

• crushed boxes

• loose shrink wrap could indicate an issue with

freshness for food products

Fragile items

Fragile items should be checked to ensure they

have not been damaged. This is especially the

case if the cartons or boxes are crushed or

damaged.

Use by dates

Goods with an expiry date should be checked

closely. Any that are past the date should be

returned.

This is particularly important for food items, as if

items are passed the date they are legally not

allowed to be sold, due to health impacts on

customers.

Best before dates

Food items with a shelf life of less than two years

will need to have a best before date. These should

also be checked when processing incoming stock.

The best before date gives customers an idea of

how long they good will last before it starts to loses

quality. This date is often conservative and the

good may stay good well after this date. As this is

the case, some stores may sell certain products

past their best before date at a reduced rate.

If an item arrives in store with a small use by date

or best before date, a store may reject these items

due to the problems they can cause for the store.

Finding out of date goods on the shelf will have a

negative impact on customer’s perceptions of the

store and ultimately sales.

It can also lead to problems if people become sick

from eating out of date goods from your store.

Shelf life

Other items may also have a shelf life too, such as

clothing, footwear and seasonal items. They may

become outdated or soiled as there are waiting in

storage. These items would then need to be sold at

a reduced rate, which impacts on profit.

This should be taken into account when ordering

items.

How about this?

Or this, now don’t laugh

Or this one

Not too bad, well I think so anyway.

Anyway back to work

Temperature issues

Certain goods will also have to be stored at the

correct temperature. Frozen goods should be less

than -18 degrees Celsius and chilled items no more

than 4 degrees Celsius

You need to ensure all delivery drivers use the

correct type of transport to ensure this occurs.

Liquid items

Items containing liquid should be checked to

ensure they have no spilt or nothing has leaked or

evaporated. If boxes are damp, this could indicate a

problem.

You need to check the level of the liquid in the

bottle to check to see if the quantity is correct.

Electrical items

Electrical items should be checked to see if they

work. Most stores will just check one rather than

the whole delivery. However if there appears to be

an issue with that delivery, i.e. customers returning

the product, the whole delivery should be checked.

These types of items may also be damaged during

transit if they are transported in the incorrect way.

The carton will show an arrow to indicate which way

to stand the item up. You should ensure the

delivery driver follows these procedures.

Security concerns

Another issue that should be considered is

items, liquids, powders etc that look suspicious.

The store will have policies to deal with this, it may

require a phone call to the police or fire department.

Whilst this may never occur, it is better to be aware

of these issues.

Discrepancies

If you notice any problems straight away, you

should not accept delivery of the damaged goods.

You should note the problem on the delivery docket

and have the delivery driver take it back.

If you realise the problem after, then you will need

to contact the supplier and deal with the problem.

If you accept goods that are of poor quality, it is

unlikely you will be able to sell them for the correct

price. This will affect your profit and will also affect

your store’s reputation as a supplier of quality

goods.