THE HOME DEPOT. Vendor SSR Training Guide

THE HOME DEPOT Vendor SSR Training Guide

REVISION HISTORY: Application and Program Version Changes Modified By 1.0 Document Created: January 2014 IPR Solutions 2.0 Added information regarding Prebuilt Reports in Merchandising Operations April, 2016 3.0 Updated data history time period from 2 years to 53 weeks October, 2017 Merchandising Operations T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction... 4 Internet Browsers... 4 How to Gain Access to Vendor SSR... 4 How to Assign Mvendors to Users... 5 How to Access Vendor SSR... 5 Understanding User ID / Pvendor / Mvendor Alignment... 6 Vendor SSR User Interface... 6 Menu Overview... 7 Report Criteria Overview... 7 Prompt 1: Vendor... 7 Prompt 2: Filter - Time... 8 Prompt 3: Filter - Location... 8 Prompt 4: Filter - Product... 8 Prompt 5 and 6: Objects to Display on Rows and Columns... 9 Prompt 7: Metric Selection... 9 Prompts 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12: Store Traits... 10 Prompts 13 and 14: SKU Attributes... 11 Action Buttons... 12 Pre-Built Reports... 12 Basic Functionality of Vendor SSR... 13 Report Results Overview... 18 Report History... 20 Exporting Reports... 20 Troubleshooting & FAQs... 20 FAQs... 23 Contacting Support... 26 Training Video... 26 T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 3

Introduction This document is intended as a reference and training guide for suppliers using the Vendor Self-Service Reporting tool. Vendor Self-Service Reporting can also be referred to as SSR, Vendor SSR or VSSR. Vendor SSR provides U.S. Merchandising Suppliers with ad-hoc reporting capabilities for sales, inventory, and receipt related data by selecting location, time, and product information. Reports can be generated down to the Store / SKU level and data will be available by 11 am EST for the previous day and 53 weeks worth of data can be collected. Internet Browsers The recommended internet browser for most Home Depot applications and reports is Microsoft Internet Explorer. Vendor SSR can still work in other browsers and it is possible due to individual supplier security preferences and computer setup, suppliers may have to utilize Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to access some functionality of Vendor SSR. The most common challenge experienced when using Internet Explorer is the inability for the user to export a report. If the user encounters this challenge, it is recommended that the user install another internet browser. Please refer to the Vendor SSR Troubleshooting section for more information about solving potential challenges. How to Gain Access to Vendor SSR A Partner Guardian at your organization must provide access to the Vendor SSR tool as well as provide the Mvendors tied to the User ID. A guardian must follow the steps below to provide access to VSSR and to provide the desired Mvendors for the user. 1. Log into HomeDepotLink 2. Select Partner Profile in the top right corner 3. Select the User ID, -------- and select Edit 4. Select Access Rights HomeDepotLink tab from the top 5. Select the Reports tab 6. Check the box next to Vendor Self-Service Reporting (SSR) 7. Select the M-Vendors tab 8. Select the appropriate Mvendor(s) for the user 9. Move the Mvendor(s) to the Selected side using the right arrow 10. Select Save at the bottom of the Update Contact box Attention: Once access is granted, it will take 24 hours before the user can go into the reporting tool and run reports. Additionally, only U.S. Merchandising Suppliers will have the ability to grant access to Vendor SSR. Tip: Many Home Depot Applications and Reports are operated by system named MicroStrategy and this includes Vendor SSR. When providing access to a report or application and the below Access Denied message is received, wait 24 hours before trying to access the report or application again. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 4

How to Assign Mvendors to Users If you are a Partner Guardian you have the ability to assign Mvendors to your User ID and other employee User IDs at your organization. Follow the steps below to assign Mvendors to the specific User IDs: 1. Log into HomeDepotLink 2. Select Partner Profile in the top right corner 3. Select the User ID, -------- and select Edit 4. Select M-Vendor tab from the top 5. Select the Mvendor, ------- and select the arrow pointing right so the Mvendor appears on the Assigned side 6. Select Save Below is link to the HomeDepotLink Training Guide. It provides direction of how to manage your organization through Partner Profile which is a critical responsibility in order for your organization to accurately and properly conduct business with The Home Depot. Tip: Additional information about the Partner Guardian s role and responsibilities can be found in the HomeDepotLink Training Guide. Also, helpful information about HomeDepotLink navigation and functionality can be found on the HomeDepotLink Training Page. How to Access Vendor SSR To access Vendor SSR the user must log into HomeDepotLink and select the reports tabs located near the top of the screen. Locate VENDOR SELF-SERVICE REPORTING (SSR) and select GO. Please see the screenshot below. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 5

Understanding User ID / Pvendor / Mvendor Alignment User IDs are created and associated with a Pvendor number or Payment Vendor number. Mvendors or Merchandising Vendors are then setup under the Pvendor based on where your products fall into The Home Depot s merchandising departments. Lastly, SKUs are then aligned to Mvendors. Therefore to see data for a SKU that is aligned to a specific Mvendor the user must have been assigned that Mvendor. Attention: The Vendor SSR support team does not have the authorization to realign Mvendors with a different Pvendor nor do they have the authorization to consolidate Mvendors under one Pvendor. The user will have to speak with their Merchandise Planner to determine if this action is possible. Here is the Merchandising Contact List for you records. Vendor SSR User Interface The Vendor SSR tool interface setup into 3 distinct sections, the Menu, the Report Criteria, and Actions. The Menu provides 14 prompts to customize a report. The Report Criteria contains either detailed information or displaying options depending on the prompt. Lastly, the Actions section allows the user to perform simple operations to operate the tool. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 6

Menu Overview The Menu is located on the left side of the screen and consists of 14 prompts (see screenshot on the right). The Menu displays the 14 prompts available for selecting report criteria. There are four required prompts that are needed to create the most basic report and are indicated by the words (Required). If a report is attempted and a required prompt is not correctly selected, a red flag and an error message will appear next to the prompt indicating an incorrect setup. A green flag indicates that the prompt criteria has been entered correctly A red flag indicates that the prompt criteria has not been entered correctly A user can navigate between prompts by either clicking on the prompts in the Menu or by using the Previous and Next buttons in the Action section of Vendor SSR. Report Criteria Overview The Report Criteria section allows for the selection of criteria to appear on the report. Referencing the image below, the screen is divided into 2 sections Available and Selected. Using your cursor, you can expand the items in the Available section and select the desired options. Once the desired options have been selected, click the right arrow in the middle of the sections and the selected options will be moved to the Selected box. In the example below, the Fiscal Quarter 3 of 2011 was selected. When the report is executed it will only return results for that Fiscal Quarter. Prompt 1: Vendor The Vendor prompt allows users to select from available Mvendors the user has been assigned by the organization s guardian. Select all Mvendors desired for the given report and move them over to the Selected side to include the Mvendors in the report. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 7

Tip: Please see the above sections, How to Assign Mvendors to Users and Understanding User ID / Pvendor / Mvendor Alignment for more information about Mvendor assignment. Prompt 2: Filter - Time The second prompt, Filter Time, allows users to set the time period for the report. The filters that are included are Fiscal Year, Fiscal HY (Half-Year), Fiscal Quarter, Fiscal Month, Fiscal Week, and Fiscal Day. The filter is arranged in a hierarchy with Fiscal Day being the lowest level of reporting and Fiscal Year the highest. Tip: To collect the inventory metrics Store On-Hand Units (STR OH Units) or Store On-Hand Dollars (STR OH $) the selected time in Prompt must be in the past. Attention: Time prompts are based off of Home Depot s fiscal calendar. Home Depot fiscal calendars are available in the footer of HomeDepotLink (Must log in to see the calendar). Only 53 weeks worth of data is available in Vendor SSR. Prompt 3: Filter - Location The Filter Location prompt allows users for the selection of locations to be included in the report results. The prompt filter includes Company, LOB (Line of Business), Division, Region, District, BYO (Buying Office), Market and Store. The filter is arranged in a hierarchy with Store being the lowest level of reporting and Company the highest. Tip: Information concerning Division, Region, District, BYO, Market and Store can be found in the footer of HomeDepotLink under OUR LOCATIONS in the Store Listing file. The file Store Listing by RDC file that is also located in the footer. This file can be useful in importing RDC/Store locations to analyze sales, receipt and inventory data. Tip: LOB (line of Business) allows users to view data by channel (dotcom or store). 852: THD DIRECT will pull back data for dotcom SKUs, whereas 2598: CORE RETAIL will pull back data for store SKUs Prompt 4: Filter - Product The Filter Product prompt allows for the selection of products to be included in the report results. The prompt filter can be selected for All Product, Merch Department, Class, SubClass, and SKU. The filter is arranged in a hierarchy with SKU being the lowest level of reporting and All Product the highest. ATTENTION: The product filter will only display products, departments, classes, sub-classes, and SKUs for the Mvendor associated with a user s account. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 8

Prompt 5 and 6: Objects to Display on Rows and Columns Prompt 5, Objects to Display on Rows and Prompt 6, Objects to Display on Columns are used to determine how the report data will display. Tip: To help create reports that are easier to read and understand the criteria with the largest selection should be selected in Prompt 5 Objects to Display on Rows. Prompt 7: Metric Selection Prompt 7, Metric Selection has 3 different types of metrics available: Sales, Inventory and Receipts. Below is an explanation of each of the metrics available. Attention: Sales data is reported as Net Sales. Receipts are items that are accepted at the store. Inventory is the on-hand count of an item. To receive data for inventory metrics Prompt 2, Filter Time must be in the past. Metric Description Details Sales $ Sales $ LY Sales $ v LY ($) Sales $ v LY (%) Sales Units Sales Units LY Sales Units v LY Sales Units v LY (%) Str OH $ Str OH Units STR Rcpts $ STR Rcpts Units Sales $ for specified time filter Sales $ Last Year for specified time filter The variance of Sales $ for specific time filter versus Sales Last Year $ The variance of Sales $ for specified time filter versus Last Year Sales $ Sales Units for specified time filter Sales Units Last Year for specified time filter The variance of Sales Units for specified time filter versus Last Year Sales Units The variance of Sales Units for specified time filter versus Last Year Sales % Store On-hand $ for specified time filter Store On-hand Units for specified time filter Store Receipts $ for specified time filter Store Receipts Units for specified time filter The sum of unaudited retail sales (net sales) amount for the current fiscal year The sum of unaudited retail sales (net sales) amount for the previous fiscal year Measures the difference between sales $ for the current fiscal year and sales $ for the same fiscal year. Measures the difference between sales $ for the current fiscal year and sales $ for the previous fiscal year expressed as a percentage of sales $ during the same fiscal year. The number of items on sales transactions for the current fiscal year. The number of items on sales transactions for the current last fiscal year. Measures the difference between POS sales units for the current fiscal year and POS sales units for the previous fiscal year Measures the difference between POS sales units for the current fiscal year and POS sales units for the previous fiscal year expressed as a percentage of sales units for the previous fiscal year. Measures the retail value of store on hand inventory for the current fiscal year. Measures the value of store on hand inventory units for the current fiscal year. The retail value of the receipt for a SKU in a store for the current fiscal year. The number of units received for a SKU in a store for the current fiscal year. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 9

Prompts 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12: Store Traits There are three different store trait types: Corporate, Department, and Class and there are 4 prompts to select 4 different Store Traits if needed. Suppliers usually find Corporate Traits beneficial because it allows them to analyze sales data based on store demographics. Store Trait Definitions Tip: For data to be generated in the report and to create the best report possible it is recommended that Store must be moved to the Selected side in Prompt 5 Objects to Display on Rows. Only one trait is selected per prompt and for each of the Store Trait prompts that are moved to the Selected side it must be included on the Selected side of Prompt 12, Store Trait Attributes List. The desired Store Trait will not be displayed without moving the corresponding Store Traits in prompt 12 to the Selected side. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 10

Attention: Stores can be assigned to multiple traits within a prompt thus totals may reflect duplicative information when a store appears as multiple line items thus it is important to only include one trait per prompt. Prompts 13 and 14: SKU Attributes SKU Attributes are a new feature added to Vendor SSR in January 2014. SKU Attributes are information that is provided by the supplier concerning their SKUs. The information that suppliers provide about their respected SKUs can be brought into the in Prompt 13, Select SKU Attribute(s) and the information can displayed by product and attribute in Prompt 14, Display SKU Attributes By. Prompt 13 allows users to filter by Corporate Attributes (Brand, Color, Line Structure, Price Band, and Private Label) or by SKU Attribute Hierarchy. Prompt 14 allows users to select how they want the SKU Attributes data to display. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 11

Action Buttons The action buttons in the bottom left of the screen should be used to navigate between the 7 steps in the Menu. The Previous and Next buttons utilize the familiar Wizard like approach to move to the previous and next sections in the menu. Once all of the selections have been made, click the Run Report button to execute the report. Pre-Built Reports Vendors have the ability to pull data using one of the pre-built reports. These reports allow vendors to quickly view information that Merchants deem important. When using these reports, vendors will noticed that they are pre-populated with information. Pre-built reports can be reached by clicking the PREBUILT REPORTS button from the Vendor SSR home screen: Here are the available reports: 1. Sales and Inventory Metrics (Previous Week) Provides Sales $, Sales $ vs. LY ($), Sales Units, Sales Units vs. LY and Str OH Units data from the previous week (looks at the most recent closed week). This report is ideal for a quick look at sales and/or inventory metrics from the previous week. Report includes metrics for store SKUs. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 12

2. Sales and Inventory Metrics (Previous 6 Months) Provides Sales $, Sales $ vs. LY ($), Sales Units, Sales Units vs. LY and Str OH Units data from the previous 6 months. This report is ideal for a look at sales and/or inventory metrics from the last 6 months (looks at the most recent, closed 6 months). Report includes metrics for store SKUs. 3. Sales and Inventory Metrics (Previous 12 Months) Provides Sales $, Sales $ vs. LY ($), Sales Units, Sales Units vs. LY and Str OH Units data from the previous 6 months. This report is ideal for a look at sales and/or inventory metrics from the last 12 months (looks at the most recent, closed 12 months). Report includes metrics for store SKUs. 4. Sales Metrics Dotcom (Previous 12 Months) Provides Sales $, Sales $ vs. LY ($), Sales Units, and Sales Units vs. LY data from the previous 12 months (looks at the most recent, closed 12 months). This report is ideal when looking to get sales data for dotcom SKUs. 5. Sales Metrics Dotcom vs. Store (Previous 12 Months) Provides Sales $, Sales $ vs. LY ($), Sales Units, and Sales Units vs. LY data from the previous 12 months (looks at the most recent, closed 12 months). This report is ideal when looking to compare sales data by line of business (dotcom vs. store) Attention: The Filter Time prompt is not visible in the pre-built reports as the timeline is defined by report. If you need to define a specific timeframe or make any other specific edits, click on the HOME button to navigate back to the original Vendor SSR. Basic Functionality of Vendor SSR Select Report Criteria Prompts 1 through 13 report criteria are setup in a similar manner. The user is able to select from available criteria to build a report. A user has to select criteria and move it from the Available side to the Selected side of the Report Criteria. To move criteria over to the Selected side, select one or many options and click the single arrow to the right. The user can return the option back to the Available side by clicking the left arrow. The double arrow will bring all of the options still on the Available side over to the Selected side and same occurs to remove all of the criteria from the Selected side to the Available side. Save this Answer When Report is Run On prompts 1 through 4 and prompt 13 the user has the ability to save an answer for the respected prompt for later use by selecting Save this answer when report is run. Selecting this box allows you to save the criteria in the Selected side for easy report creation when running reports. This feature is helpful if you have some common criteria and do not want to have to select them each time. Simply check the box to save the answer when the report is run and give the defined criteria a meaningful name. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 13

Attention: Be careful not to select the Set as Default option. This will cause every report to run with the saved criteria by default even if other criteria is selected. If Set as Default is selected then uncheck the checkbox and run a report to remove the default settings. Remember this Answer On prompts 5 through 7, has the option to Remember this Answer. Remember this Answer will default a certain selection to that which the user created when the checkbox Remember this Answer was originally clicked. It is not recommended to select this option because you will have to navigate the preferences to remove that option on a prompt. Import Files On Prompt 3 Filter Locations and Prompt 4 Filter Product, the user has the ability to import text (.txt) or CSV (.CSV) files to the report criteria. This can prove to be extremely beneficial if the user only wishes to generate reports on specific locations or SKUs. It is only recommended to import Store Numbers in prompt 3 and/or Home Depot SKU Numbers in prompt 4. The user must first list the store number(s) or SKU number(s) in vertical order in a compatible file type. Follow the steps below to import a file based on the prompt. Prompt 3 Filter Locations Step 1: Move Store over to the Selected side Step 2: Click Select and change to Qualify T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 14

Step 3: Click ID and change to STR # Step 4: Click Value and then Import Step 5: Click Browse and locate the appropriate text of CSV file Step 6: Click Import so the values of the file are populated in the text box T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 15

Step 7: Click OK so the values populate prompt Selected text box Prompt 4 Filter Product Step 1: Move SKU over to the Selected side Step 2: Click Select and change to Qualify T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 16

Step 3: Click ID and change to SKU # Step 4: Click Value and then Import Step 5: Click Browse and locate the appropriate text of CSV file Step 6: Click Import so the values of the file are populated in the text box Step 7: Click OK so the values populate prompt Selected text box T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 17

Report Results Overview The report generated in Vendor SSR has 3 sections: The Toolbar, the Report Prompts, and the Report Results. These are identified in the image below. The Report Results contain the criteria selected in the report prompts. The Report Prompts are a summary of what was selected in each of the prompts on the previous page. The Toolbar provides the user with functionality to interact with the report results. The three most important options are shown below. Re-prompt Save Export Click the Re-Prompt any time a report has been executed and you want to change some of the report criteria. For example, if you run a report for the Month of June 2010 and would like to change the report to show July 2010, clicking Re-Prompt will take you back to the report criteria you previously entered and you can then make any necessary adjustments. Saving a report will allow you to Save the report to the My Reports section. Exporting a report will open a new window with several options for how the report should be exported. Exporting reports allows users to save a report to a local computer in a preferred format. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 18

Saving, Exporting, and Viewing Report History My Saved Reports Saved reports can be accessed from the My Saved Reports link in the top navigation of application. From the My Saved reports screen there are options to export a saved report or open it as a PDF. Clicking on the report name will open the saved report. Saving to My Saved Reports Users can save reports when once they have been executed by clicking on the Save ( ) icon in the report results toolbar. When the Save icon is clicked a prompt will appear (see image to the right). Attention: Reports should always be saved in the My Reports folder. Give the report a Name and Description and select whether to keep the report prompted before selecting OK. Prompted vs. Unprompted: When running a prompted report the user will be taken to the initial report page where the report criteria are selected. All criteria for saved reports will be preselected and a user will be able to make any necessary changes before running the report. Unprompted reports will execute using the saved report criteria and the user will be taken directly to the report results. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 19

Report History The Report History keeps a running record for all reports that have been executed over the previous 15 days. For every report executed by a user, the report history will be updated with the name of the report indicated in the Report Message Name text box (see image below) on the main report criteria page. Any report that needs to be viewed more than a week later should be saved to My Saved Reports. Exporting Reports Reports can be exported to other formats to be saved on a local computer. Users can select the Export icon ( ) from the report results toolbar and from the My Saved Reports page for previously saved reports. The Export feature will open a new window containing several options for how the report should be exported. Once all selections have been made, clicking the Export button with start the report export and the user will be prompted to Save/Open the report in the format selected from the above screen. Troubleshooting & FAQs Clear Cache It is recommended that the user clears their computers cache daily to prevent errors when trying to access Vendor SSR. Clearing your computer s cache includes Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History, T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 20

Download History, Form Data, Passwords, and Active X Filtering and Tracking Protection Data. Directions of how to do this for Internet Explorer and Chrome are below. Internet Explorer When Internet Explorer is open press Ctrl + Shift + Delete and Delete Browsing History form will appear. Make sure that the Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History, Download History, Form Data, Passwords, and Active X Filtering and Tracking Protection Data checkboxes are checked and then select Delete. Google Chrome When Google Chrome is open press Ctrl + Shift + Delete and Clear Browsing data form will appear. Make sure that the Clear Browsing History, Clear Download History, Delete Cookies and Other Site and Plug-In Data, Empty the Cache, Clear Saved Passwords, Clear Saved Autofill Form Data, Clear Data from Hosted Apps, and Deauthorize Content Licenses checkboxes are checked and then select Clear Browsing Data. Create a Store-SKU Report To create a report that displays the Stores and SKU please follow the below directions: Prompt 1 Vendor: Select the Mvendor(s) that you want to report on Prompt 2 Filter-Time: Select the time frame. Recommend to use Fiscal Year unless looking for Store On-Hand Units or Store-On Hand Dollars then fiscal weeks would be more appropriate. If inventory metrics (Store On-Hand Units or Store-On Hand Dollars) are needed, DO NOT include the current fiscal week. Prompt 3 Filter-Location: Select Company then ALL THD Prompt 4 Filter-Product: Select All Product then All Product Prompt 5 Objects to Display on Rows: Remove all values from the assigned side. Then select the Location folder and then select Store Prompt 6 Objects to Display on Columns: Select the Product folder and then select SKU Prompt 7 Metric Selection: Select the metrics that you wish to see T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 21

Receive Junk Characters When Exporting a Report Due to security established on the supplier s side at times a user may encounter the following screenshot when trying to export a report in Vendor SSR. If the above occurs when trying to export a report please follow the below directions Start by clearing your computer s cache which includes Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History, Download History, Form Data, Passwords, and Active X Filtering and Tracking Protection Data. Directions of how to do this for Internet Explorer and Chrome are below. Internet Explorer When Internet Explorer is open press Ctrl + Shift + Delete and Delete Browsing History form will appear. Make sure that the Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, History, Download History, Form Data, Passwords, and Active X Filtering and Tracking Protection Data checkboxes are checked and then select Delete. Google Chrome When Google Chrome is open press Ctrl + Shift + Delete and Clear Browsing data form will appear. Make sure that the Clear Browsing History, Clear Download History, Delete Cookies and Other Site and Plug-In Data, Empty the Cache, Clear Saved Passwords, Clear Saved Autofill Form Data, Clear Data from Hosted Apps, and Deauthorize Content Licenses checkboxes are checked and then select Clear Browsing Data. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 22

FAQs 1. How do I find help or training documentation for Vendor SSR Training documentation is available using the Help link in the top right-hand corner of Vendor SSR. Please do not use the icon in the report output page. This will launch a web-based help guide that is not applicable for Vendor SSR. 2. Are Sales metrics reported as Gross Sales or Net Sales? All Sales related metrics in SSR refer to Net Sales. 3. What are multi-sourced SKUs and how are they reported using the 90% rule? Multi-sourced SKUs are SKUs that are shared by multiple suppliers at The Home Depot. For reporting purposes, a single supplier will be assigned to the SKU using the 90% rule: SKUs are assigned to the vendor accounting for 90% or greater of receipt cost over the previous 4 week period. If no vendor is assigned using the previous 4 weeks, then the system looks backward another 4 weeks until an assignment can be made. Vendor assignment is calculated and stored by the Store, SKU, Week 4. Why is the data in my EDI 852 POS report different than the data in SSR? Suppliers of multi-sourced SKUs have the option of selecting to see all Sales data for the SKU or no data on the EDI 852 report. If a supplier has opted to see all Sales data on the EDI 852 report then they will receive all sales data for the entire SKU, regardless of the number of suppliers who share the SKU. SSR uses the 90% rule to determine which supplier should receive credit for the SKU 5. My company has more Mvendors than are available for me to select. Why can t I see them all? Suppliers using the SSR application will see the Mvendors their Partner Guardian has given them access to view. Each supplier has Partner Guardians that are responsible for setting up users at their supplier. If you believe that you should have more access then please contact your Partner Guardian. You can view who your Partner Guardian is by logging into the HomeDepotLink portal and selecting the My Account link in the top right of the screen. 6. Why do my Inventory metrics sometimes show no values? Inventory metrics will only have a value for closed time periods. For example, if a report is run for the entire year 2011, the inventory will show zero because we are currently in 2011 and the reporting period has not closed yet. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 23

Another cause of this behavior is when you select a custom date range for a period and do not use the Fiscal Day time period (i.e. Fiscal Quarter 4 of 2010). If you specify an end date that is different from the quarter end date, then no inventory data will be returned Additionally, if the SKUs are Special Order SKUs, then they may not be stocked and as a result the inventory metrics will be returned as blank cells. 7. How do I run a report for a custom date range? SSR date ranges follow The Home Depot s fiscal calendar by default. To set a custom date range, select Fiscal Day from the Time filter and move that entire parameter to the Selected box in SSR. Then click on Select and choose Qualify and click on Equals and choose Between. Attention: Whenever setting custom date ranges remember to do it by selecting Fiscal Day. Setting a custom date range for other time parameters (Fiscal Month, Fiscal Week, etc.) could potentially cause inventory data to report incorrectly. 8. All of the Time periods are listed by the fiscal time period. How do I know what dates are covered during that time period? T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 24

Please refer to the fiscal year calendars available in HDLink at the footer. These calendars can be used to view the dates in a Fiscal Year, Half Year, Quarter, Month and Week. THE HOME DEPOT I TRAIIIIIIG GUIDE 25

Contacting Support For all issues related to the available Merchandising Vendor names (MVendors) displaying in the Vendor section of the report criteria, please contact your Partner Guardian. If you don t know who your Partner Guardian(s) is/are then you can find out by logging into HomeDepotLink and viewing your account information from the My Account section in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. Changes made to your account by your Partner Guardian will be available the following day. For all other issues please email the Vendor SSR support team at supplier_reporting@homedepot.com. The support team can provide guidance on using the application and can help with issues encountered with reports. Please describe the issue you are having in as much detail as possible and provide screenshot of the error message and the report prompts used to create the report. Training Video The training video provides an overview and guided demonstration on how to use the Vendor SSR Tool. Training Video Attention: User will need to save the file to their computer and the user must have Windows Media Player in order to view the file. T H E H O M E D E P O T T R A I N I N G G U I D E 26