For retail and wholesale consumer goods, the valuation process frequently begins with on-site assessments where the collateral is being held – from stores to warehouses and distribution centers. The viability of this infrastructure is comprehensively assessed, as the speed in which saleable goods can be distributed to buyers is a critical component in determining asset value.

STORE VISITS

Location
• Street, type of mall, anchor tenants, limits on exterior and interior signs, parking and visibility.
Security & SALES systems
• At-risk stock, register keys and overrides. POS, logistics and employee scheduling.
advertising & promotions
• Current promotional calendar, discount cadences, media mix and on-hand clearance.
Personnel
• Staff needed to realize highest recovery value, best use of sale supervisors and potential LP issues.
Store Traffic
• Shoppers versus buyers, amount of multi-purchases, core customer types, pull from competitors and destination versus walkbys.
Stockrooms
• Loss prevention issues, efficiency in moving goods to the floor, packaways and damages.
Ticketing
• Price checks and markdowns, ‘compare at’ versus ‘actual’, logic of pricing model.
Merchandising
• Plan-o-grams, state of fixtures, depth of inventory, seasonality, collapsibility and augment potential.
GOODWILL
• Shoppers’ emotional ties to the operation.

DISTRIBUTION CENTER VISITS

LOCATION
• Hours of operations, size, shipping and receiving areas and satellite buildings.
EQUIPMENT & SHIPPING
• Working condition of P&E, owned or leased, manual or automatic. Efficiency of fleet and shipping rates.
PERSONNEL
• Potential Union issues, shift limitations and ability to cross-train personnel.
PRODUCTS
• Bin locations, finished versus unfinished goods, completion of ticketing, damages and packaways.
INVENTORY CONTROLS
• LP infrastructure: guards, alarms, cameras, RF guns, UPC or location codes. RGIS or internal resources.
PICKING/PACKING
• Full pallet versus individual items and efficiency of shipping infrastructure.
E-COMMERCE
• Fulfillment at DC versus satellite location or private contractor.
SYSTEMS
• Efficiency of reporting systems to monitor shrink, augmented goods or manufacturing orders.