This article is meant to be used by Ace stores who are already selling Blue Rhino Propane and provides Ace recommended SKUs.
In order to participate in this program, the following setup steps must take place. For a description of the propane selling and receiving process after this setup is complete, see the Blue Rhino Propane Exchange Store Procedures document under Related Documents on the Blue Rhino Propane page.
Important: States are responsible for adhering to all carbon emissions standards set by the state and federal requirements.
This article provides information on the following:
One-Time Setup
- Task 1 – Complete all necessary paperwork – ONLY NEW BLUE RHINO RETAILERS
- Task 2 – Add the Blue Rhino Ace SKUs to your system
- Task 3 – Understand, communicate, and train all associates to the new point of sale procedures
- Task 4 – Merge any existing items into the new Ace SKUs
- Task 5 – Set up SKUs to sell with the inventory placeholder
Task 1 – Complete all necessary paperwork – ONLY NEW BLUE RHINO RETAILERS
Note: Stores already using Blue Rhino as their propane provider, skip to Task 2.
In order to begin, complete and submit the Blue Rhino Tank Exchange Agreement that can be found under Related Documents on the Blue Rhino Propane page.
Submit the agreement to the Blue Rhino contact listed on the form. Once the tank exchange agreement form is received, the Blue Rhino team will contact you and manage the remaining steps (including additional forms based on state regulations), guiding the entire set up process and ending with the product delivery and training of your staff. These may include and are not limited to:
- Site plans
- Fire inspections
- Permits
- Sales tax forms
Note: This process may take up to 6 weeks to complete.
Task 2 – Add the Blue Rhino Ace SKUs to your system
Ace has created, and will manage, specific SKUs for the Blue Rhino program. In order to sell, receive, and update properly, you must load these items into your system via electronic Hotsheets. In addition, Blue Rhino’s fulfillment process relies on the correct UPCs being attached to these items, which Ace will manage for you.
Note: Blue Rhino updates the national average retail for exchange and for a new tanks. If you choose to update your retail price and need new display sign price labels, contact wecare@bluerhino.com or 800-258-74466
To add SKUs:
- Log into ACENET and navigate to Request Electronic Hotsheets (Manage Product > Item Management > Request Hotsheet).
- In the SKU field, enter the following items, clicking Add to Grid after each item number:
-
- 8679896 (New Tank)
- 8679912 (Exchange)
- 8679904 (Full Tank – placeholder for inventory management)
- Once all items are in the grid, click Submit.
These items will be added into your system the next time electronic Hotsheets are received and processed, given correct system settings.
Important: All these SKUs will be added to your system with a national average retail price for exchange and for new tanks. Stay aware of and review updates to pricing from Blue Rhino and set your local price points.
Task 3 – Understand, communicate, and train all associates to the new point of sale procedures
For the Blue Rhino program, there are two distinct items to be sold through point of sale and tracked by the vendor for replenishment. In order to establish an accurate restocking pattern most effective for your store, as well as properly reconcile billings, it is necessary everyone sells these SKUs properly.
- New Tank (8679896): This SKU is to be used when a full tank is sold without an empty tank being exchanged. For example, with the purchase of a gas grill or other outdoor components. There is no empty tank to be exchanged. The set price point for this transaction is $49.99 and should be edited as mentioned above.
- Exchange (8679912): This SKU is to be used when an empty, eligible tank is exchanged for a full one out of the cage.
Note: All team members will be trained to recognize an ineligible or obsolete tank by the Blue Rhino distributor that services your business.
Important: A full tank placeholder SKU (8679904) has been created by Ace and will be sold with each of these transactions as set up below in Task 5. The purpose of this SKU is to provide an immediate view into how many full tanks are available for sale from your cage.
Task 4 – Merge any existing items into the new Ace SKUs
Important: For stores new to Blue Rhino, complete this task the day prior to receiving your FIRST Blue Rhino order. Existing retailers complete this task within the flow of this document.
Regardless of a previous propane supplier, it is the best practice to merge any existing selling SKUs into the new Ace SKUs. In this manner, the go forward items will be sold and received with the Ace Blue Rhino SKU numbers.
Task 5 – Set up SKUs to sell with the inventory placeholder
Ace has created a placeholder SKU to properly manage your inventory of full tanks inside the cage. Without this placeholder, there is no efficient method to know how many full tanks your business has available at any point in time. To properly manage your inventory, each type of propane sale will also deduct one from the available quantity of the FULL placeholder SKU.
Important! To sell propane on acehardware.com com, your available inventory (QOH) MUST be reflected in the placeholder SKU. Otherwise any acehardware.com customer will be unable to add a tank to their cart.
Example:
- The cage is filled with 16 tanks available, either a New or Exchange sale – there is no way to know in advance.
- A walk-in customer purchases an Exchange; QOH is reduced from the Inventory SKU, and there are now 15 available tanks and one empty in the cage.
- An acehardware.com customer browses online and sees 15 tanks available to purchase (either New or Exchange), and they add a New tank to their cart.
- When a customer’s order is fulfilled by an associate, they remove a full New tank from the cage, which now has 14 available, 1 empty tank, and 1 empty slot.
- Another customer calls and asks how many tanks are available. The associate checks the Inventory SKU and sees there are 14 available to purchase. The customer then requests 5 New and 5 Exchanges. When the transaction is complete, the cage contains 4 available tanks for purchase, 6 empty slots, and 6 empty tanks to be taken by Blue Rhino when they replenish; Inventory SKU displays QOH = 4
Ongoing Store Procedures
The ongoing procedures for Ace Hardware are as follows:
- Task 1 – Properly sell propane at point of sale
- Task 2 – Receive deliveries, then create and finalize a purchase order
- Task 3 – Reconcile your Ace Statement
Task 1 – Properly sell propane at point of sale
There are two SKUs to be sold, as outlined in Task 3 – Understand, communicate, and train all associates to the new point of sale procedures. Ensure all situations are being sold through point of sale correctly as to establish consistency for replenishment.
Task 2 – Receive deliveries, then create and finalize a purchase order
Blue Rhino’s distributors replenish your business off an established cycle based on your point of sale transactions. At that time:
- The distributer empties and replenishes the cage based off eligible or obsolete counts.
- You will receive and sign off on an invoice detailing the number and types of tanks being billed.
Task 3 – Reconcile your Ace Statement
Blue Rhino bills through your statement process for each completed delivery. Creating and finalize purchase orders for these deliveries will ensure accuracy and ease of reconciliation when the charges appear.
If you have questions or suggestions about this information, contact support@paladinpos.com.
