Dollarama is a deep discount\/value retailer operating in Canada.\u00a0 The company offers a wide range of general merchandise, seasonal products, and consumer packaged goods.\u00a0 Until 2009, Dollarama was a pure dollar store, selling items at only one price point: one dollar.\u00a0 In this stage, the Company had an operating model that was very well aligned to selling merchandise for $1 as cost-effectively as possible.\u00a0 This model resulted in challenges, however, for achieving the true business model of the company, which is to deliver maximum convenience and value to consumers at very low price points.\u00a0 As a result, the Company transitioned to a multi-price point strategy, which required some changes to the operations.<\/p>\n
Sourcing Model:<\/strong><\/p>\n Dollarama\u2019s business model of offering goods at limited low price points requires innovative low-cost sourcing strategies.\u00a0 Dollarama is able to offer low prices and maintain margins by working with directly with manufacturers on innovative SKUs including smaller packaging, engaging in opportunistic sourcing, and avoiding long term contracts.\u00a0 Direct relationships with suppliers allows Dollarama to capture some of the value traditionally captured by distributors\/importers and also allows Dollarama to collaborate with CPG companies on dollar-format sizes and packaging to keep sticker prices low for end consumers.\u00a0 Dollarama also carries a mix of merchandise between items that are consistently stocked and items that are sourced opportunistically in a close-out or promotional purchase.\u00a0 Willingness to take on this inventory can also help improve relationships with suppliers. 25% to 30% of SKUs at Dollarama turn over every year, and the Company maintains flexibility to make opportunistic merchandising decisions by avoiding any long term supply contracts. \u00a0In addition, Dollarama sells a range of private label products, sourced directly from manufacturers abroad, which are cheaper to procure relative to recognized national brands.<\/p>\n In-Store Operations<\/strong><\/p>\n Prior to the introduction of multiple price points in 2009, the stores contained no price labels, either on shelves or individual merchandise.\u00a0 To aid in check-out, the cash registers had one button that was pressed for each item purchased by the customer.\u00a0 Cashiers needed only to count the number of items at check out and press the button the requisite number of times to complete the transaction, speeding up checkout.\u00a0 Inventory, too, was tracked through a manual counting process, which was aided by the single price point merchandising model.<\/p>\n Challenge of the Single Price Point Strategy<\/strong><\/p>\n Keeping prices fixed over a long time horizon (in this case, 16 years) without allowing for inflationary increases guarantees that over time either margins will begin to deteriorate or the value offered to the customer will diminish. In order to add increased flexibility to the operating model moving forward and allow for the introduction of new, higher value product offerings, additional price points were introduced.\u00a0 Today, the Company offers products at seven price points ranging from $0.77 to $3.00, and is considering introducing prices up to $4.00.<\/p>\n Operational Impact<\/strong><\/p>\n The shift to multiple price points allowed Dollarama to even better leverage their existing sourcing capabilities.\u00a0 Additional price points gave buyers flexibility to introduce new product offerings and additional size and packaging options.\u00a0 They were also able to take better advantage of opportunistic sourcing, as they were able to buy inventory to sell for more than one dollar.<\/p>\n On the other hand, the shift required significant changes to in-store operations.\u00a0 Store layouts were redesigned to have one dollar and \u201cdollar plus\u201d sections, and in some cases individual items had to be labeled with prices.\u00a0 The cash registers were replaced with registers with four buttons, one for each of the four prices offered in 2009 instead of the single button models used previously.\u00a0 Since 2009, the Company has rolled out a comprehensive RFID point of sale and new inventory\/warehouse management systems.<\/p>\n While this shift required significant investment, it has also improved the company\u2019s operations.\u00a0 An unprecedented level of sales data is now available, allowing the merchandising and sourcing departments to better optimize product mix.\u00a0 Data availability has also improved the replenishment process, minimizing in-store physical inventory counts and reducing inventory costs and labor expenses. These savings translate into opportunities to deliver better value to the customer, supporting the value-driven business model.<\/p>\n Sources:<\/p>\n