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Hi,

we had some speculation on what changes might happen to the GW policy towards independent stores: http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/428882.page . This week, GW started to officially inform them, so it is not speculation anymore. I think these changes are worldwide (with some of it already implemented in USA for years), but I can only be sure for Europe currently. Changes start beginning this week, but are fully implemented only starting June. I use personal translation from German names and only estimates for prices, as they vary between countries.

1.) There are online-stores (including stores with mainly online-sales) and normal retailers that don't want to become a "GW stockist outlet" (or for some reasons don't qualify). The following doesn't apply to them.

2.) If you want to become a "GW stockist outlet" (abreviated "stockist" from now on), you have to commit yourself to stock about 50 different basic plastic boxes (2 each) from a list. The list includes the starter boxes, the paint starter boxes, mostly one standard from all Fantasy races, one or two boxes for each 40k faction (4 for Space Marines). You have to restock these at least once per month and send GW a check list proving your stock. This is the basis for becoming a GW stockist and is called "Module 1". It includes basic commitments for GW support like being listed in WD as stockist, being allowed to order "direct only" products (max 650€ per month) etc. GW grants you 260 € per year for products used in promotion, terrain and tournaments, but it can also be used to send back unsalable products (Dreadfleet ). More modules increase that amount, but may be subject to GW's approval. Weekly orders remain, but no minimum order. Keeping and reporting the stock is the only requirement, failing to do so may let you lose the status of a GW stockist (see 1).

3.) The other modules are not yet implemented, but should be June latest. Module 2 includes basic accessories including a selection of paints. Module 3 includes WD and new releases. Module 4 includes an extension of module 1 and covers about 200 products like army books, heroes, monsters, selected after popularity. Module 5 includes the complete paint range and even more hobby products. Each module includes a fixed list of products you have to stock and report once per month (in case of module 4 once half a year). The lists are reviewed and updated by GW February and June. You can (and usually will) of course stock more GW products, but those are extra and don't need to be reported. Each store can freely chose what modules he wants, only module 1 is required for being a GW stockist. Module 2 increases your allowance by another 260 € (see 2), Module 3 by 130 €, Module 4 by 585 €, Module 5 by 195 € (allowances by Module 3-5 need GW approval for what you can get). Allowance is for one year and expires each end of May. These allowances are what was called "free product support policy" in the other thread.

4.) The policy includes more rules and technicalities including who can get free GW racks, who is offered limited items first, how to get painting-promo-packs and tournament-packs (including trophies) and other promo stuff.

All in all, the policy change sounds reasonable. The stock requirements also seem easy to fulfill (well, not everyone will have 2 of each basic box) and are less restricting than it sounds at first. Not sure how time consuming the reporting is, if you have more than just one module. Good to see more free product support (as folks in USA already enjoy).

That's it for the moment.

Why not just update the first post of the other thread you opened and linked to?

Not trying to be a pain or anything...

Any good retailer will track their stock closely and have the figures to hand without much extra effort.

Weekly reporting will help GW make their supply chain more efficient.

Reporting is monthly (or once half a year with module 4).

And it was easier to start a new thread instead of changing the first post AND topic of the other thread

The requirements seem reasonable. Being able to sell back easily would be a selling point for me and the extra money towards promotions would do alot towards getting players in the store for events. I don't think it would be very hard to track inventory for GW's stockist requirements. And the different tiers of engagement are nice too.

I wonder if you're a new store (or new to GW for example) if they kick down items like terrain so you could get your tabletops started up for in store play.

one or two boxes for each 40k faction (4 for Space Marines).

Of course lol. Other than that, this doesn't seem too bad!

MightyGodzilla wrote:Being able to sell back easily would be a selling point for me and the extra money towards promotions would do alot towards getting players in the store for events.

If you implement their rules and some of the starter material (those 25 boxes that you have to order 2 of each, making 50) isn't selling, can you send that back to get other product instead? Like if tactical marines, an obvious required box, isn't selling, can you send it back and request something like a razorback, which you can't keep on the shelf? Would you be able to replace said non-selling product with a hotter selling one and still have it count for GWs tiered requirements? And, I choose those examples ONLY because they are common, well known product, tacticals are an obvious requirement of the 50 and razorbacks are probably not (the rhino is instead). Just a question based on what sells. And I can personally attest to the fact that if I had to buy a tactical box, terminators and a dreadnaught, I'd buy Black Reach-not those boxes individually. Tactical Marines don't make sense to be selling well, considering the alternatives, and I'm wondering if they could be sent back if they continue to not sell well.

timetowaste85 wrote:

MightyGodzilla wrote:Being able to sell back easily would be a selling point for me and the extra money towards promotions would do alot towards getting players in the store for events.

If you implement their rules and some of the starter material (those 25 boxes that you have to order 2 of each, making 50) isn't selling, can you send that back to get other product instead? Like if tactical marines, an obvious required box, isn't selling, can you send it back and request something like a razorback, which you can't keep on the shelf? Would you be able to replace said non-selling product with a hotter selling one and still have it count for GWs tiered requirements? And, I choose those examples ONLY because they are common, well known product, tacticals are an obvious requirement of the 50 and razorbacks are probably not (the rhino is instead). Just a question based on what sells. And I can personally attest to the fact that if I had to buy a tactical box, terminators and a dreadnaught, I'd buy Black Reach-not those boxes individually. Tactical Marines don't make sense to be selling well, considering the alternatives, and I'm wondering if they could be sent back if they continue to not sell well.

No, you have to keep to the list of products they suggest, to meet your level. Not really a big deal, as having a few things that sell slow is easily offset by the amount of new product that a store recieves. The basic list for level 1 is their top selling boxes

It is 50 boxes x2, not 25. And no, the 50 are fixed and not subject to negotiations, but more or less selected for proven popularity.
Examples:
Space Marines: 2x Tactical, 2x Assault, 2x Devastator, 2x Razorback, 2x Drop Pod (okay 5 different boxes, not 4).
Blood Angels: 2x Death Company (that's it, nothing for Black Templar or Dark Angels))
Warhammer Fantasy Imperium: State Troops (that's it).
LOTR: 2x Starter, 2x Paint Set, 2x Galadhrim, 2x Warriors of Minas Tirith, 2x Uruk Hai, 2x Troll.

@Mikhaila: Can you confirm that my summary also applies to USA?

With GW supposedly (okay confirmadly) throwing monies at every FLGS in Europe who wants to be part of the program, I wonder if they intend of closing a lot more of their own stores. 1500 euros per lvl 5 tier participant doesn't seem like that much to me. Their own stores that are losing business they can close down (I'd maintain battle bunker sized stores personally) and save a bundle on losses. If a FLGS does poorly it's not really on GWs books and GW still gets to sell to whomever wants their product. Kind of like backing out of the arms race and becoming the supplier.

Speculation is OT, but I can't help but wonder given their habit of making stores smaller, downsizing, etc.

So you do have to keep stock of LOTR stuff.

H.B.M.C. wrote:So you do have to keep stock of LOTR stuff.

According to my FLGS owner (in the USA) he has to keep stock (2 of each) of a certain number of core LOTR products. The selection of required LOTR items is much smaller than the 40K and WFB stock that he is required to maintain.

Kroothawk wrote:It is 50 boxes x2, not 25. And no, the 50 are fixed and not subject to negotiations, but more or less selected for proven popularity.
Examples:
Space Marines: 2x Tactical, 2x Assault, 2x Devastator, 2x Razorback, 2x Drop Pod (okay 5 different boxes, not 4).
Blood Angels: 2x Death Company (that's it, nothing for Black Templar or Dark Angels))
Warhammer Fantasy Imperium: State Troops (that's it).
LOTR: 2x Starter, 2x Paint Set, 2x Galadhrim, 2x Warriors of Minas Tirith, 2x Uruk Hai, 2x Troll.

@Mikhaila: Can you confirm that my summary also applies to USA?

Yes, looks like the same deal as the US is getting. It's now 5 tiered, whereas the old deal was two tiered, with just stockist and partner levels. I'd expect anyone that was at the Partner level before is easily at the Tier 5 level already. My stores had no additional hoops to jump through, other than checking off some boxes on inventory forms now and then. We've been stocking two each on all the GW boxes for years.

petes97 wrote:The selection of required LOTR items is much smaller than the 40K and WFB stock that he is required to maintain.

That's good then. A small selection can happily sit in a corner gathering dust whereas a larger forced selection could bleed retailer's white.

H.B.M.C. wrote:

petes97 wrote:The selection of required LOTR items is much smaller than the 40K and WFB stock that he is required to maintain.

That's good then. A small selection can happily sit in a corner gathering dust whereas a larger forced selection could bleed retailer's white.

Makes me wonder if you can sell the Lotr stuff at a huge discount just to get turnover and not face any penalties.

What was old is new again. Mandatory order and stock levels for carrying GW goods isn't a new concept. Try living through the "authorized retailer" and "chapter approved store" time frame during 2nd edition.

What sucks is when they bully the stores into carrying(minimum order concept) all the different new releases. It will come...again.

This doesn't seem to extreme.

Wont matter at all.. my local CLGS does what it wants, and GW won;'t pull their account. Its all smoke and mirrors

KGatch113 wrote:

H.B.M.C. wrote:

petes97 wrote:The selection of required LOTR items is much smaller than the 40K and WFB stock that he is required to maintain.

That's good then. A small selection can happily sit in a corner gathering dust whereas a larger forced selection could bleed retailer's white.

Makes me wonder if you can sell the Lotr stuff at a huge discount just to get turnover and not face any penalties.

Or "prizes"? hehehe

Matt Varnish wrote:Wont matter at all.. my local CLGS does what it wants, and GW won;'t pull their account. Its all smoke and mirrors

What makes your local so special? Is it because they sell heaps or does the owner have an in with someone at GW hq?

Kroothawk wrote:It is 50 boxes x2, not 25. And no, the 50 are fixed and not subject to negotiations, but more or less selected for proven popularity.
Examples:
Space Marines: 2x Tactical, 2x Assault, 2x Devastator, 2x Razorback, 2x Drop Pod (okay 5 different boxes, not 4).
Blood Angels: 2x Death Company (that's it, nothing for Black Templar or Dark Angels))
Warhammer Fantasy Imperium: State Troops (that's it).
LOTR: 2x Starter, 2x Paint Set, 2x Galadhrim, 2x Warriors of Minas Tirith, 2x Uruk Hai, 2x Troll.

Slightly OT: But Bandai used to offer (maybe still does?) assortments like this to shops for their Gundam model kits. Big box of a bunch of kits in x2, x3 quantities at a slightly better discount (so like 47% off rather then 45%...)

Made it fairly easy to restock popular stuff and get a few slow sells for variety..

Matt Varnish wrote:Wont matter at all.. my local CLGS does what it wants, and GW won;'t pull their account. Its all smoke and mirrors

Of course GW won't pull their account, they just won't get the "stockist" perks like RTT prize support and will have to meet order minimums (which usually aren't hard at all to meet).

These rules have been in place in the US for a few years now. The order form/stock list shows the different levels pretty clearly, and basically GW "checking" your stock involves your sales representative going over the list once a month as you place your order over the phone, pretty easy to just lie about it if you really don't want to replace it. Once or twice a year GW sends the sales reps out to their account stores to meet with the owner, discuss any concerns in person, talk about store displays/events/stock levels and generally just shmooze around, and you need to have the full stock your supposed to have for that. Aside from that visit there's nothing keeping you from saying you have something you don't.

That said, most everything on that list is stuff you'd be carrying anyways (even the LotR stuff occasionally sells). GW tracks what sets are most popular and changes the required list based on that, and you'd be surprised what isn't on that required list. You'd also be surprised that GW doesn't want you carrying their full line unless you know you can support it, they'd rather you carry what sells and they're even willing to work with you on the "required" list a bit, we were a Partnership store and carried the full 40k line since that sold for us, but LotR really didn't and we eventually only had to carry 1 of each LotR box set. GW doesn't like doing that, but they'd rather you not order stuff that truly doesn't sell if you're good about keeping your stock levels up on what does, they want you in buisiness and ordering.

Byte wrote:What was old is new again. Mandatory order and stock levels for carrying GW goods isn't a new concept. Try living through the "authorized retailer" and "chapter approved store" time frame during 2nd edition.

What sucks is when they bully the stores into carrying(minimum order concept) all the different new releases. It will come...again.

This doesn't seem to extreme.

This isn't mandatory in any way. You can have a GW account, get the same credit terms and discount as everyone else, and ignore this program altogether.

If you want a couple of grand a year in free stuff, you agree to follow some rules.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Matt Varnish wrote:Wont matter at all.. my local CLGS does what it wants, and GW won;'t pull their account. Its all smoke and mirrors

Why should they pull their account? Pay your bills on time, that's pretty much the main requirement.

This is about taking part in a program to stock certain amounts, and get more support. Your store is certainly free to not take part.

This is similar in the way Walmart/Home Depot/Lowes and other large businesses work. Their ERP System will monitor inventory levels and automatically purchase items it is low. The amounts purchased are based on how well the product is selling. It helps both the retail shop and manufacturer keep their costs down as it cuts back on storage costs.

It looks like GW wants to reward the stores that help manage its production. If they are able to see the demand for their product, they can save some money by not creating excess. In return, they can pass some of this savings on to the stores that are providing them with the additional information. It looks like a win win situation for both GW and the FLGS.

Would you prefer they didn't give the stores extra stuff for tournaments?

As someone who runs a GW tournament every single month.. Im wondering how they will track events and give out these new allowances for prizes

Kirasu wrote:As someone who runs a GW tournament every single month.. Im wondering how they will track events and give out these new allowances for prizes

They won't. If you meet the program requirements, you are just allowed X free product to use as you like for 'promotion, terrain and tournaments'. It is up to you to do with it as you will. edit: Oh and the policy also has specific rules for 'tournament packs', it's at the end of the first post.

Sounds like GW is trying to do some PR friendly things to wash away the apathy generated from the prior year's mishaps.

pretre wrote:

Kirasu wrote:As someone who runs a GW tournament every single month.. Im wondering how they will track events and give out these new allowances for prizes

They won't. If you meet the program requirements, you are just allowed X free product to use as you like for 'promotion, terrain and tournaments'. It is up to you to do with it as you will. edit: Oh and the policy also has specific rules for 'tournament packs', it's at the end of the first post.

Too bad I sorta wanted some tracking since Im not an actual employee at the store.. Just the TO for GW events

Kirasu wrote:As someone who runs a GW tournament every single month.. Im wondering how they will track events and give out these new allowances for prizes

Basically, the store just agrees to stock the inventory, and to re-order when it sells. They may be required to fill out a monthly inventory sheet. Rarely will a GW sales rep show up to check. they don't have the people or the inclination to do so. Once in the program, the store gets the support.

They can then use it in any number of ways, tournament prize support being just one of them. The store recieves GW stock that they ask for. So if they want scenery, they ask for scenery. Need paint for painting classes? Ask for paint. Etc.

My suggestions for TO's that aren't part of the store, is to talk to the store owner, mention you've heard about the new program, discuss whether or not they are taking part or have heard of it, and ask about using it for prizes to support the tournaments you run in the store. Stores vary a lot. Some may not order from GW directly. Some may just fax in orders and not talk to sales reps much. Make sure they are aware of, and taking advantage of, this program.

This is a no brainer in many ways. A store gets the best discount ordering directly from GW, free shipping, no order minimums, plus racks, and a chunk of free stuff each year.

Kirasu wrote:Too bad I sorta wanted some tracking since Im not an actual employee at the store.. Just the TO for GW events

But the policy isn't really tournament support, it is FLGS support. That's kinda something you need to work out with the store. Might want to sit down and read through the actual policy with the store owner so you guys can figure out how to work together and maximize your efforts and free swag.