Planogram: the essential tool for organising your products in shop
Laying out the shelves in a shop so that your products are organised is no easy task. Your point of sale is the key to the success of your business, and organising it requires a great deal of thought in order to optimise the space in your shop and satisfy your customers.
But with countless products of different sizes, how do you get organised?
The solution: a planogram.
What is a planogram? Definition
A planogram is a graphic representation of how you arrange the different products on the shelves of your shop (shelves, display units, etc.) in order to maximise sales and minimise wasted space. It is created by a shop manager, a retailer or a member of the marketing team.
Planograms in retail merchandising sell several products in a single shop. So by optimising the placement of your products, and therefore your shelving, you not only save your customers precious time, but also your staff. With new technologies, the planogram is increasingly managed digitally via SaaS-based software or applications.
Before creating your planogram, make sure you understand your customers' buying behaviour. If your planogram is a well-established tool, in other words, if your customers find the products of their choice without difficulty, your sales are likely to increase considerably.
Imagine a customer wants to buy jam. He can easily find this shelf, which is perfect, but he also remembers that he's missing some bread. In short, if you place your shelves thoughtfully, consumers will be able to buy products they weren't supposed to buy in the first place.
What are the different types of planogram?
There are many different types of planogram, and choosing which one is best suited to your needs is a major strategic advantage.
Here are a few of them.
Text format
The easiest planogram to produce is the text format, in which the names, codes and locations of your goods appear in each of the boxes on your document.
Advantages :
- easy to use
- limits unnecessary movements.
Graphic format
This planogram is more complete than the previous one, because it contains not only the location of the products on the shelves, but also the way in which they will be presented to consumers. It's much easier to find your way around the store when you have a clear, precise image.
Advantages :
- Clear visuals,
- detailed information,
- saves time.
Three-dimensional format
This planogram is the most comprehensive you'll find. In addition to the information mentioned in the other two types of planogram, this one includes the number and advertising material. This format is perfect for covering an entire department and faithfully visualising the final layout of the desired part of your shop.
Advantages :
- Faithful image,
- complete,
- fast.
What are the advantages of a planogram?
Let's take a look at how a planogram can be a strategic asset for your shop.
Optimising space
Your planogram will be useful in optimising the space in your shop, leading to greater efficiency and therefore maximising your sales. Not only will it enable you to assign a specific function to each part of the shop, it will also help you to reduce unnecessary movement.
The items you put on the shelves are not placed at random.
Group them according to their size, weight and usefulness. By identifying them, you can avoid stock-outs.
Avoiding stock-outs
Out-of-stock is a well-known problem in shops that you can easily avoid. Out-of-stocks are mainly caused by poorly organised departmental replenishment.
To help your shop staff in the field, you need to digitise your planogram in real time so that everyone can consult it.
As a retailer, you can find out immediately when a product is out of stock by looking at the emptying shelves and can place an order on time to avoid out-of-stock situations. Stocktaking can then be carried out under the best possible conditions.
Boosting sales
Your shop is set up as follows: successful brands or USCs and new or low-margin products.
In order to boost your performance, taking into account the management of your stocks and the locations of different products helps you to define optimal strategies, after analysing the behaviour of your shoppers.
What's more, all customers want the same thing: speed and convenience. The layout of your shelves is essential, so that your customers can easily find the products they're looking for.
But that's not all!
The design of a shelf greatly influences the customer's mood and the way they make their purchases. In order to build long-term loyalty and a positive brand image, arranging your shelves in an aesthetically pleasing way can be a great help.
It encourages purchases, and therefore increases sales.
☝️ Tip:
To be effective, the planogram must be :
- easy for consumers to find, preferably in an unobstructed area,
- easy to understand. Use a clear legend, a direction of circulation so that customers can easily find their way around the store, and an appendix containing product references,
- share information effectively through customer updates so that your customers are kept informed of any changes.
Which planogram have you adopted? Tell us in the comments!
Article translated from French