XchangeIt Variance Report
This is for Newsagencies Only
You've received a Variance Report from XChangeIt.
The report cannot be fixed. But you can prevent failing future reports. However it is also essential that you understand what dates this report actually relates to.
A report received in July, titled June is actually showing you magazines arrived in May. So the information is between 2.5 and 1.5 months old.
| Report Received In | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
Report Titled | December | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November |
Actual Month the Report References | November | December | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October |
This means that any change in behaviour or processing take between 1.5 and 2.5 months to show on the variance reports.
Please answer this questionnaire. The only answers are YES or NO. Sometimes or Maybe is a YES
- Have you got customers with putaways that they pay for them on pickup who don't pick up the title within 2 weeks after its recall date?
ie recall week is 9 and the customer picks it up in week 12 - Do your subagent returns ever get entered 2 weeks past the recall date of the title being returned?
ie a subagent gives you a magazine which has a recall date of week 9 and it is currently week 12. - Do your staff scan the magazines barcode for sales or returns when the magazine has a label that you've printed?
- Do you arrive your magazines early whilst the old issues are still on the shelf and potentially being sold?
ie you arrive the coming Monday's magazines whilst the previous Monday's magazines are still on the shelf - Do you use PLU's or touchscreen buttons to sell or return magazines?
- Do you have magazines that don't scan or come up as the wrong title?
- Do you have a Magazine button on the POS screen that is used when the magazine doesn't scan?
- Did you get any emails from XChangeIt regarding missed sales data?
- Did you receive emails from XChangeIt regarding errors in the sale inventory files?
- Have you swapped POS systems to Retailer from Tower Systems in the past 5 months?
- Do you ever give subagents extra titles or supply them with magazines not on a standing order?
- When scanning returns, if prompted to select the issue do you just press enter and not check that you have selected the correct issue?
- When you scan a magazine barcode, does your scanner miss the 2 digit addenda?
ie if you open Notepad or a Word document and scan the barcode printed on the magazine, not the label you've printed and stuck on the magazine, does it pick up the 2 digit barcode (the addenda) at the end of the barcode? - Do you see any errors when opening Retailer about Server Mapping Options failing or not being set?
if the answer is YES to any of these questions, then that procedure or action can cause variances with magazines
Here's what to do to correct the above issues.
- Call the customer, tell them they need to pick up their magazines every fortnight at the latest. Or alternatively pay in advance and change the order to charge to their account. Use the Putaways Report every week to see what the oldest Putaways you have and address them weekly. Process a Putaway Stocktake to update your Putaways Report
- Don't accept magazines that are returned 2 weeks past the recall date from Subagents. Put the responsibility on them to pay for the magazine if is not returned on time just like you would have to if returns aren't submitted in time to the supplier.
- Train your staff and tell them its required to scan the label you've printed.
- Arrive your magazines only on the day they are delivered.
- Stop, do not use PLU's to sell magazines or Touchscreen buttons. Remove the touchscreen buttons and stop using PLUs for sales or returns. Always scan the magazine
- Address each title with this issue ASAP by following the instructions on Common Problems With Magazine Arrivals.
- Remove the Magazine button. Refer to point f to correct the magazine
- This could be caused by server mapping not working or permissions on the PC around generating sales data during the End Of Shift.
Or no magazines were sold on the dates the Sales data is reported as missing. Or the store was closed. - Make sure you get the exact data from XChangeIt regarding the error before you send it to us. Do not send us an email from them without the data.
- Sales data from Retailer will not included magazines sold or returned before the day you started using Retailer. It results in incomplete data and failing compliance is normal during this period.
- Only supply Subagents based on Standing Orders. Or follow Creating Subagent Orders From Invoice Arrivals to add new titles to subagent orders
- Make sure that if prompted to select the correct issue, you actually take time and select the correct issue.
- Find the manual online for the scanner by searching; "Brand Model Programming Manual" ie "Honeywell DS9208 Programming Manual" on Google
Find the symbology settings for EAN13, EAN8, UPC-A, UPC-E
Enable 2 digit addendas. Some versions may mention an Auto-discriminate setting for addendas.
Do not make addendas required. Stationary, Papers and Books use the same symbology but do not have addendas - Follow the instructions on Server Mapping Options Not Set to fix this. If you get errors after attempting to fix it, contact Support
Remember, 1 issue sold incorrectly causes 2 issues to have a variance. 1 Issue returned incorrectly causes 2 issues to have a variance. Accuracy is important.
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