Regional grocer takes direct approach to managing shipments

Schenectady, New York-based The Golub Corp. may be a smaller grocery retailer, but it’s taking a big approach to vendor collaboration.



The operator of more than 130 Price Chopper and Market 32 grocery stores in the Northeast has selected Park City Group’s Scan-based Trading solution to support a new go-to-market strategy for direct store delivery (DSD) vendors.



“DSD products are notoriously difficult to manage at the shelf,” said Blaine Bringhurst, senior VP of sales, merchandising and marketing at Price Chopper. “Park City Group’s Scan-based Trading solution will provide us with a progressive way to manage our DSD vendors while lowering our costs and inventory investment.”



Using the new collaborative solution, Price Chopper and Market 32 seek to achieve greater efficiencies in DSD receiving, lower operating expenses, easier payments and increased sales of 3%-10%. The retail banners intend to obtain these benefits through greater visibility into performance of products delivered via DSD.



DSD bypasses the retailer’s distribution center and instead ships goods straight from a manufacturer or wholesaler to the store. It is often applied to goods with high turnover and short shelf life, such as grocery items. While DSD can significantly improve sales and reduce overstocks, out-of-stocks and expiration of goods, it is also tricky to manage.



By adopting a collaborative strategy with vendors and implementing software to improve product visibility, Golub is directly handling its DSD situation.