Policies and Regulations

I went to Wal-Mart late Monday night. There was about 15 minutes left until Tuesday, the day a movie and a videogame I have been waiting for were set to be released. Now, I’ve done the midnight release thing millions of times in millions of stores… including Wal-Mart, but on this occasion, I was told something that I did not expect;

"Wal-Mart changed it’s policy. Employees are no longer allowed to stock DVDs and videogames, the vendors do that stuff now."

Is that true? Who are these vendors?

While I was there, a number of other people were standing around in that department looking for items at the turn of midnight as well. I calculated it quickly in my head, $370 worth of merch. I know that’s microscopic compared to what Wal-Mart pulls in daily, but considering that there are (approx.) 3000 locations nationally, that’s more than a million dollars of lost sales in the period of about a minute.

Well, whatever… does anyone know if this is standard policy now?

I work at Walmart and it is true. A vendor comes in and stocks the merchandise, displays the programs through the store and changes what is needed. At this time, I cannot tell you the name of the vendor, but I know I could find out if need be. It just never came about in the past as to whom they are since I don’t work that particular department. If the store is informed that they cannot sell a movie or DVD prior to a certain day and time but the store does in fact sell it prior, that company has every right not to place the product in the store. Therefore, that would be more of a loss if they removed all movies, etc from the shelves

6 Responses

1. EQ Says:
   February 17th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

   I don’t know if the vendors physically stock the shelves for that sort of thing, but that would be in line with Walmart policy. The vendors actually manage the inventory at Walmart.
   References :

2. Awakening Spirit Says:
   February 17th, 2010 at 1:10 pm

   About a week or so ago I was in wal-mart and an employee was stocking the the shelves in the electronics department, including DVD’s and videogames. I guess it could be true, but it doesn’t sound right to me.
   References :

3. Tracy S Says:
   February 17th, 2010 at 1:51 pm

   Vendors are company reps. I used to be a magazine rep and only we were allowed to put out new magazines. I work for a magazine distribution company and they handled the accounts of almost every store in our area.
   I would guess that Wal-Mart has seen the advantage to having a rep put out the product–the rep does the work, caculates returns and is responsible for the product. Wal Mart employees may stock items in between rep visits. The loss of sales is probably minimal to them.
   References :

4. Sillyme Says:
   February 17th, 2010 at 2:04 pm

   I work at Walmart and it is true. A vendor comes in and stocks the merchandise, displays the programs through the store and changes what is needed. At this time, I cannot tell you the name of the vendor, but I know I could find out if need be. It just never came about in the past as to whom they are since I don’t work that particular department. If the store is informed that they cannot sell a movie or DVD prior to a certain day and time but the store does in fact sell it prior, that company has every right not to place the product in the store. Therefore, that would be more of a loss if they removed all movies, etc from the shelves
   References :

5. 007 Says:
   February 17th, 2010 at 2:52 pm

   it is not true
   References :

6. daddiesslut88 Says:
   February 17th, 2010 at 3:04 pm

   It depends on if they feel like paying a associate to do it or let the vendors do it.
   References :

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