MANAGING YOUR STOCK DURING THE PANDEMIC.
The Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has abruptly thrown the entire world into a new normal. We cannot at the moment ascertain when we shall return to normalcy, as new variants of the virus are being discovered around the world. Even, the much awaited vaccines, after its introduction is faced with vaccine apartheid, as richer nations have pre-purchased most.
As postulated by great Economists and
citadels of learning of our time, the global consequences of the pandemic was
the unbalanced balance sheets experienced by nations of the world in 2020.
Thus, with dire consequences, nations of the world, no matter the class,
whether developed, developing or under-developed could not continue with the total
lockdowns. Necessitating the ease in lockdown, as businesses must continue!
We cannot but imagine the quantum of
financial losses incurred during the tight global lockdown, from Aviation,
tourism, international and domestic trades etc. And to our major concern of perishable
goods in our local markets.
Mallam Musa, who is a green-grocer sells
potatoes at the popular food market (Mile 12 market) in Lagos (a south-western
state in Nigeria). He was expecting two Lorries of potatoes from Sokoto (a
north-western state), when the Governor of Lagos state declared a lockdown on
all intra-city movements with limited exemptions for inter-city movements.
Luckily, Mallam Musa had his potatoes
delivered to the popular market, but the consumers were on lockdown, with only
limited hours (i.e. four hours per day) to get their basic supplies from their
nearest food markets. As movements were so much restricted.
It may also be pathetic to know that the
same Mallam Musa was equally expecting two other Lorries of potatoes the
following week, having fully paid for these re-orders!
Mrs. Teramoluwa is a grocer who sells
canned foods only unlike Mallam Musa above. For her, the lockdown was an
unpalatable experience considering the expiry dates on her products. Some of
the items have barely less than four weeks to their expiry dates while a few,
like yoghurts have just fraction of days to their expiration.
Clearly, from above, there is the urgent
need to adopt methods of inventory management in the circumstances above. The
suggested method for the later (Mrs. Teramoluwa) is First Expired, First Out (FEFO). To effect this, she needs to place
products with the soonest expiry date in front, and constantly rotate stock on
the shelves in that manner. This would no doubt reduce spoilage and obsolete
stocks.
For Mallam Musa, as assumed, he should
continue with the First- in, First- out
(FIFO) method of inventory management which is peculiar to such perishable
items, but with the introduction of
despatch riders ( as Dispatch riders are considered as essential service
providers during pandemic).
However, in both scenarios, they (the
sellers) can do better by embracing online
marketing stores/ platforms to reach their customers.
