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E-cigarette merchandising audits

March 05, 2023 04:11AM
Has anyone done any of the E-cigarette/vaping product merchandising and inventory audits? Wondering how long it takes to complete one. Thanks.
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More About Tobacco Compliance Audits
March 05, 2023 04:01PM
Once you get the hang of it, usually about 15 minutes. The schedulers are very helpful when questions come up.
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March 05, 2023 06:21PM
The time it takes can depend on how busy the store is because you'll be behind the counter and will sometimes need to move out of the way of the staff, or let them take care of customers when you need to ask them pricing questions. It can be as short as 15 minutes, but could be an hour at a very busy time.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2023 06:24PM by shopnyc.
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March 06, 2023 07:03PM
I guess it depends on who the MSC is and what is involved. I did a couple with an MSC that had an app that assisted you with the task. The customer flow in the store will impact the time.

I did two a few miles away from each other. I was lucky with the first location since it served as training in a low traffic environment because the station's pumps were out of order. Only two customers showed up while I was there and the clerk was able to help me without making people wait.

The second shop was the complete opposite with lots of customers. The clerk was operating two registers at the same time like some kind of wizard. Both locations took about 15 minutes.

I did them for $20 each last year and haven't seen them pop up again since. I am not sure if another shopper is picking them up quickly or they haven't had a need for the locations to be shopped.

If you find a bunch of these grouped together in a 5-10 mile radius, then I would take them if they were going for $17 or so. I think another MSC that had the same company, but in a different market was only paying $10.
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March 06, 2023 09:49PM
If these are the ones for a company that uses another app to record them, I have found that they can be a little hit or miss, but the comments above are pretty accurate.

A busy gas station can take a while if you have to wait for customers to leave, because they want you to take a picture of the register pricing in the app, but also not disrupt the operations of the store. Hopefully you don't get stuck behind 10 people buying lotto tix.

Some of the places can be sorta grimy - I did a few smoke shops and they had the merchandise on the floor instead of on a shelf, it was dusty and cobwebby - gross.

I also did some of these at the gas stations affiliated with a blue big box store - the cashiers were scared to do price checks on the register, it was kind of bizarre but I do think getting pricing done by outside vendors is normal so I'm not sure why they were reluctant to do it.

I wouldn't do these for less than 17.
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March 08, 2023 06:31PM
Super simple audit but don’t expect to make a big route of them, as the scheduler will only allow you to complete maybe 8-13 at a time, plus they have to send you the materials to do them which can sometimes take a week depending on weather. Also, they will increase the pay to $25/location if you wait till the end of the rotation.
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March 09, 2023 07:28PM
I appreciate the response. The locations I'm looking at seem to have at least two registers behind a tiny counter so it can get crowded at times. I'm thinking about trying one especially after reading everybody's responses. Thanks for your input!
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