Family Dollar

In order to meet those challenges, Family Dollar nimbly emphasized basic consumables, and to ensure that margin was maximized, deployed 4R Systems’ Profit Optimized Store Inventory Service (IPMax SR) across all of its replenishment items in the entire chain (over 7,500 stores).

To address the challenge of serving a large scale national retailer, 4R executed its evaluate, prove and implement process across the entire chain and met every deadline. More importantly, the company accurately projected the improvement to inventory efficiency and delivered to those projections.

4R’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model was augmented by its business consultants who worked closely with Family Dollar’s team. This ensured 4R’s service was tailored to the client’s unique business needs and constraints. This model helped drive profit improvements when optimizing key decisions for store and DC inventories, replenishment items and more.

Family Dollar implemented 4R Systems’ Profit Optimization Service in 2009. Since the implementation, Family Dollar has opened an additional 1000 stores, proving the scalability of the service. Family Dollar continues to drive substantial improvements as a result of profit optimizing their inventory.

“Being a compelling place to shop means having the right mix of product in the stores at the right time for our customers,” according to Chad Clayton, Vice President Inventory Management at Family Dollar Stores.

Business Challenge

As an inventory intensive retailer Family Dollar was challenged to find creative ways to improve the overall margin mix as well as top and bottom line performance. The mandate from Family Dollar was not only to do better, but to do it faster and cheaper as well.

Services delivered:

• IPMax SR – Store Replenishment
• IPMax DC – DC Replenishment

Business Benefits

Family Dollar Stores, Inc. fully implemented on 4R Systems’ Profit Optimized Store and DC Inventory Service after rigorous evaluation and testing. The results:

• Better, faster, cheaper
• Better store in-stocks
• Better customer service

Company Background

Value Convenience Retailer Headquarters: Charlotte, NC, USA Description: Beginning with one store in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1959, the Company currently operates more than 7,500 stores in 45 states. Family Dollar Stores, Inc., a Fortune 300 company, is based in Matthews, North Carolina, just outside of Charlotte and is a publicly held company with common stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FDO. For more information, please visit www.familydollar.com.