CRA Retail Link Data Management 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which Retail Link report would a supplier use to track whether their products maintained in-stock status across stores during a specific week?
- Gross Margin Return on Investment (GMROI) Report
- In-Stock Report filtered by week ending date (Correct answer)
- Competitive Price Index Report
- Seasonal Trend Analysis Report
Correct answer: In-Stock Report filtered by week ending date
The In-Stock Report tracks the percentage of time an item was available for sale across stores, filterable by specific date ranges.
Question 2: In Retail Link, what does a '0% In-Stock' reading on a store-item combination most likely indicate?
- The item had zero sales during that period
- The item had no on-hand inventory for the entire measurement period (Correct answer)
- The item was removed from the planogram
- The store did not transmit POS data for that week
Correct answer: The item had no on-hand inventory for the entire measurement period
A 0% In-Stock reading means the item recorded zero on-hand units throughout the entire measurement period, signifying a stockout.
Question 3: Retail Link's CPFAR (Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, and Replenishment) module primarily facilitates:
- Automated invoice reconciliation between the supplier and Walmart AP
- Joint demand forecasting and replenishment planning between Walmart and suppliers (Correct answer)
- Competitive benchmarking of category sales across retailers
- Real-time markdown optimization for slow-moving SKUs
Correct answer: Joint demand forecasting and replenishment planning between Walmart and suppliers
CPFAR enables suppliers and Walmart to collaborate on shared sales forecasts and replenishment plans to improve supply chain efficiency.
Question 4: When a Retail Link report is set to 'Rolling 52 Weeks,' the date range updates automatically based on which anchor point?
- The supplier's fiscal year start date
- The most recent completed week relative to today's date (Correct answer)
- Walmart's fiscal year beginning in February
- The item's first date of sale at Walmart
Correct answer: The most recent completed week relative to today's date
A Rolling 52-Week period dynamically anchors to the most recently completed week, always reflecting the trailing full year.
Question 5: In Retail Link data, the term 'Club' as a store format refers to which Walmart banner?
- Walmart Neighborhood Market
- Sam's Club (Correct answer)
- Walmart Express
- Walmart Supercenter
Correct answer: Sam's Club
In Retail Link, the 'Club' format designation refers to Sam's Club locations, which operate under a separate membership warehouse model.
Question 6: A supplier's item shows high POS sales but consistently low On Hand units in Retail Link. The most likely operational cause is:
- Walmart buyers have reduced the item's authorized facing count
- Replenishment orders are not being generated frequently enough to keep pace with velocity (Correct answer)
- The item's case pack size is too large for store backrooms
- Markdown pricing has temporarily inflated unit velocity
Correct answer: Replenishment orders are not being generated frequently enough to keep pace with velocity
When sales velocity outpaces replenishment frequency, on-hand inventory depletes quickly, indicating an under-replenishment issue.
Question 7: Which field in Retail Link identifies the specific distribution center responsible for replenishing a given store-item combination?
- Fineline Number
- DC Number (Correct answer)
- Vendor Stock Number
- Store Cluster Code
Correct answer: DC Number
The DC Number field in Retail Link identifies the Walmart distribution center that services a particular store for a given item.
CRA Retail Link Data Management 3
Which Retail Link report would a supplier use to track whether their products maintained in-stock status across stores during a specific week?