Customer Representative - Vendor Replenishment - Kroger

CUSTOMER REPRESENTATIVE – VENDOR REPLENISHMENT – KROGER – CINCINNATI SALES OFFICE (CINCINNATI, OH)

HORMEL FOODS CORPORATION

The role is responsible for managing inventory replenishment for Hormel products across assigned Kroger distribution centers and/or divisions. This role partners closely with Kroger buying, planning, and supply chain teams, as well as internal Hormel Sales, Demand Planning, and Logistics, to drive optimal inventory levels, strong in‑stock performance, and efficient supply chain execution.

• Monitor VMI Dashboards: Review inventory across multiple Kroger DCs, ensuring inventory remains within defined "Min/Max" thresholds.
• Cross-Functional Coordination: Sync with Production and Deployment to ensure supply aligns with upcoming promotional spikes.
• Customer Troubleshooting: Work directly with Kroger warehouse teams or backhaul coordinators to resolve delivery discrepancies or scheduling conflicts.
• Trend Analysis: Analyze sales spikes to determine if they are anomalies or new trends requiring a permanent shift in stocking parameters.

• inventory Replenishment & Order Management
• Own replenishment decisions for assigned Kroger locations by determining appropriate order quantities to support replenishment, stock‑ups, and inventory reductions. Decisions are based on demand forecasts, historical shipment data, promotional activity, holidays, seasonality, and customer‑specific ordering parameters.
• Forecast & Inventory Optimization
• Balance customer service objectives (fill rate, in‑stock) with inventory efficiency goals (turns, days of supply). Proactively resolve conflicts between sales initiatives, promotional plans, and Kroger inventory expectations to achieve joint performance targets.
• Internal & External Partnership: Act as the central nervous system for the account.
• Internal: Collaborate with Sales on growth strategies,
  Deployment/Production on product availability, and Transportation on freight optimization.
• External: Serve as the face of the supply chain to Kroger buyers
  , backhaul teams
  , and warehouse managers to ensure seamless flow and resolve operational bottlenecks.
• Promotional & Ad Support
• Collaborate with Hormel Sales and Kroger counterparts to review advertising and promotional plans, validate volume estimates, and ensure sufficient inventory is positioned to execute promotions effectively without creating excess supply.
• Perfect Order Execution
• Drive perfect order performance by ensuring accuracy across order fulfillment, pricing, delivery execution, and product condition. Identify root causes of service failures and partner cross‑functionally to implement corrective actions.
• Customer Collaboration & Relationship Management
• Establish and maintain strong working relationships with multiple contacts within Kroger, including replenishment, buying, and supply chain teams. Participate in routine business reviews, scorecard discussions, and periodic in‑person or virtual meetings to align on performance and continuous improvement opportunities.
• Performance Monitoring & Continuous Improvement
• Monitor key metrics such as fill rate, inventory turns, forecast accuracy, and promotional performance. Provide insights, recommendations, and action plans to improve overall supply chain effectiveness for both Hormel and Kroger. After‑hours monitoring on a rotational basis is necessary as well.

• 2–5 years of experience in vendor replenishment, supply chain planning, demand planning, customer supply chain, or retail account support.
• Working knowledge of retail replenishment processes, inventory management principles, and service‑level performance metrics.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret forecasting models, historical demand data, and inventory reports to make sound replenishment decisions.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel and other data analysis tools; experience working with large datasets to support ordering and inventory decisions.
• Ability to balance competing priorities such as fill rate, inventory turns, promotional execution, and sales objectives.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills for working…