Warenverfügbarkeit einer Filiale von Fressnapf Österreich: Herausforderungen und Lösungen

Abstract

My work at Fressnapf Austria has made it clear to me how important the availability of goods is for the stores, but also for the company. Out-of-stock situations occur regularly, especially for product groups that are in high demand, which not only poses a major challenge for the stores but also has an impact on customer satisfaction. The frustration of employees who must deal with shelf gaps and at the same time provide customer-oriented advice is just as noticeable as the frustration on the part of customers when desired products are not available. These recurring problems from everyday working life motivated me to deal with this topic as part of this bachelor’s thesis. The aim was to identify the causes of bottlenecks in the supply of goods and to develop solutions based on the knowledge gained. The focus was deliberately placed on those processes that lead to supply problems in the stores. The thesis is divided into five different chapters. Starting with a theoretical part explaining the goods supply process at Fressnapf. This is followed by a practical section that analyzes the current situation in selected Fressnapf stores. The method used for this was a semi-structured survey, which took place with the store managers in ten selected stores. Both quantitative and qualitative questions were asked in order to obtain a comprehensive picture of the availability of goods, affected product groups, causes and internal communication. The evaluation was based on Mayring's qualitative content analysis. This is followed by a theoretical chapter, in which the causes and possible solutions for OoS situations are presented. Finally, the last chapter describes a use case example based on a branch in Salzburg, which explains the improvements that can be achieved by introducing a new operating system. The results show that delivery bottlenecks regularly affect the dog and cat food sector, as well as seasonal items. The main causes lie in the system logic of the Logomate merchandise management system, unclear communication between head office, central warehouse and stores and limited storage capacity. Many stores respond to OoS situations with replacement items or POS advertising material on the shelf. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement in forecasting processes and ITsupported ordering. The lack of transparency regarding delivery capability was identified as a key problem area, which has a strong impact on sales advice and satisfaction. The introduction of a new ordering system is one of many proposed solutions. Fressnapf is already in the middle of implementing a new operating system. This new system should eliminate the majority of the problems mentioned above. Another solution is to integrate third-party suppliers more closely. The targeted integration of reliable third-party suppliers can increase flexibility in the supply of goods and reduce dependence on the central warehouse. Employee training is also a key success factor. Only if store managers and teams are confident in using the new system can its potential be fully exploited.

Date of Award	2025
Original language	German (Austria)
Supervisor	Andrea Massimiani (Supervisor)