PURPOSE OF THE SHIP'S STORE
The objectives of the ship's store (fig. 2-1) consisting of sales outlets and service activities are as follows:

1. Provide a source of funds to be used for the recreation of naval personnel through profits from sales
2. Provide a convenient and reliable source for personnel to obtain articles considered necessary for their health, comfort, or convenience at the lowest practical price
3. Provide services necessary in day-to-day living
4. Promote morale

The objectives mentioned previously are not easily obtained. It takes much work and effort by all Ship's Servicemen.

Objectives 2 and 3 entail several tasks; however, as a sales outlet operator, you will not be involved in all these tasks. Since the sales outlets are located aboard ship, they are a convenient source for crew members to obtain articles necessary in day-to-day living. However, if the sales outlet is not a reliable source, it is no longer considered a convenient source; therefore, as the sales outlet operator, you should make sure the most popular and essential items are available to the customers. The ship's store officer will prepare and approve a list of basic stock items, based on the information in the Consolidated Afloat Requisitioning Guide Overseas (CARGO) NAVSUP Pub 4998, chapter 2. This basic stock list includes the most popular and essential stock items and will be made available to ship's store personnel to assist them in keeping these items stocked in the retail stores. As the retail store operator, you should notify the sales office in advance when there is a shortage of any of the items contained in this basic stock list. There are also several publications and guides listed in the NAVSUP P-487 that will assist ship's store personnel in acquiring articles necessary for the health, comfort, and convenience of personnel and providing services necessary in day-to-day living. NAVRESSO also provides contracts and bulletins so you can purchase these articles at the lowest practical prices. Objective 1 is directly related to objective 2. If you provide desirable merchandise at a low practical price, sales and profits will increase, thus providing a source of funds to use for the recreation of the crew. The fourth objective, promoting morale, is easy to define but hard to fulfill, and almost impossible to measure. To promote morale, you must have satisfied customers. The best way to satisfy a customer is to provide what the customer wants or a satisfactory answer, and that can only be done by improving your knowledge of the ship's store operation, especially in the areas with which you should be familiar.