Can Field Inspections Be an Effective Tool for Curbing Market Fluctuations?

While monitoring price transparency and stock levels at chain stores has become a necessity, the key question is how effective these inspections can really be as a tool for curbing market fluctuations? Post Can Field Inspections Be an Effective Tool for Curbing Market Fluctuations? First appeared on Safir Arjan.

According to Ambassador Arjan, in economies that are in transition and in the conditions where there are price fluctuations and changes in consumption patterns such as electronic catalog designs have gained a high speed, the chain of distribution of goods becomes the most sensitive link of the economy and the need to monitor the consumer economy arises. For this reason, the inspections of the Organization for the Protection of Consumers and Producers and the supervisory boards of the Ministry of Security of chain stores and the relevant trustees are not just a simple supervisory measure; Rather, it is a kind of preventive behavior change in the market to prevent false fluctuations and abuse of price change opportunities. As a result, these types of inspections go beyond checking prices; As far as they are based on things like transparency, access and services.

Transparency helps to match the price listed on the product with the final price in the cash register, and access also helps to check the inventory of warehouses to ensure that stores avoid hidden hoarding to raise the price in the future, and service makes it possible to evaluate how to deal with customer complaints and comply with service delivery standards in critical situations.

The basic question is, do these visits really affect the market?

One of its effects is deterrence; As far as the presence of inspectors at critical distribution points is a warning to economic operators and stores. This means that this presence makes the stores pay double attention in complying with the pricing and labeling protocols.

Another effect is identifying bottlenecks; So that continuous inspections cause valuable data to be transferred from the customer and product side to the Ministry of Security and the inspection organization, and these data help policy makers to understand the root of problems in this area, such as lack of production or disruption in distribution?

Policy reform is another important work that makes various complaints become statistical patterns. Because when inspections repeatedly point to the issue of liquidity or delays in settlement of claims, this is a direct signal to the government and the central bank that the financial structure of the support schemes needs to be reviewed.

As a result of the necessity of visits to chain stores, recently Mahmoud Salabi, Inspector General of Industry, Mining and Trade Affairs of the General Inspection Organization of the country, Hossein Farhidzadeh, Deputy Minister of Security and Head of the Consumers and Producers Support Organization, along with Seyed Dawood Mousavi, Deputy Director of Commercial Development of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, visited the chain store of Shahrudan branch of Beyhaqi. done

It should be mentioned that during this visit, the inventory status of the goods needed by the people at the store and warehouse level, the way of supply of items included in the product catalog plan and the level of readiness of the collection for the continuation of supply and distribution of goods in different conditions were examined. Also, matching the discounts listed on the shelves with the final price calculated in the cash register, complying with the approved prices listed on the goods, how to supply products with old and new prices, and preventing distortion of the price tags were other axes of the inspection.

Also, checking the transparency of the price and supply of goods, the possibility of a shortage or an unusual increase in prices and the resilience of the store in maintaining the inventory and continuing to serve the people were also on the agenda, and based on the investigations carried out during this visit, no violation was observed in the evaluated cases.

It is said that another part of this visit was devoted to the review of operational issues and problems of chain stores, and in this context, the challenges related to the delay in settling the demands of the stores from the place of implementation of the product catalog plan, liquidity problems, fuel supply and the effect of these factors on the process of supply, maintenance and distribution of goods were considered.

The performance of chain stores, especially Shahrvand, in the conditions of imposed war and the role of this network in the continuation of the supply of goods needed by the people were among the other matters that were important in this visit, and maintaining the stability of the supply chain, strengthening the stores' readiness to face critical conditions and continuing to provide services to consumers were among the topics emphasized in this visit.

It should be noted that this visit was carried out within the framework of the monitoring programs of the consumer and producer support organization and with the aim of promoting transparency in the market, investigating the obstacles facing the distribution network and ensuring that consumers' rights are respected, and the support organization considers the continuation of monitoring the pricing and the way of supply of goods, the correct implementation of discounts, the proper access of people to essential items, and the follow-up of issues affecting the sustainability of the supply and distribution of goods among its priorities.

The important point is that although field inspections are a powerful tool for momentary control of the market, they should not be considered as a substitute for structural management. Because the real effectiveness of these visits is realized when their output moves from penalizing the seller to improving the supply chain. For this reason, in order to reach a stable market, the inspections of the ministry of privacy must be accompanied by a fast feedback cycle; So that the identified challenges in the store are immediately resolved at the economic policy level to prevent supply crises.