E-ZOO and PlanoHero Collaboration. How effective layout management helps to improve chain performance

Ukrainian retailers choose modern IT solutions.  PlanoHero's experience and focus exclusively on retail helps retail chains automate their operations with planograms. 

Discover how the E-ZOO chain has implemented PlanoHero's service to automate planograms.  It will also show how the stores can effectively manage the layout and save time and resources when preparing for new store openings.

E-ZOO pet store chain shares its experience implementing and using the PlanoHero service. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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E-ZOO

Motto - We love animals

E-ZOO. Ukrainian chain of pet stores selling pet products online and offline. It started its activity as an online store. One of the first to introduce delivery of pet products in Kyiv.

In 2021, E-ZOO merged with Fozzy Group and opened its first offline stores.  

 

• A leader in online and offline sales of pet products

• Now, the chain has more than 30 stores in Ukraine

• More than 10,000 SKUs

• 180 employees

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E-ZOO is constantly looking for new ways to develop and provide the best shopping experience for its customers. 

Oleksandr Koval, IT Director of E-ZOO, tells about the chain's expansion, noting that 3 new stores opened in the last 2 weeks. These are significant merchandising challenges: inventory management issues to provide new stores with products, implementation of practical tools for displaying goods on the shelves, and ensuring brand consistency and product presentation standards at all points of sale. Successfully addressing these issues requires a retailer to have well-coordinated departments and automated processes. One of the tools that helps them achieve this goal is the PlanoHero service.

 

 

The Planogramming Process

E-ZOO chooses PlanoHero to automate planogramming, saving them much time and effort. Now, when opening new stores, it is possible to manage the layout of goods with PlanoHero effectively. 

 

"First of all, when we open a new store, we don't waste several days laying out the goods and playing games of "will it fit - won't it fit." We clearly understand what products must be sent from the warehouse and how and where they should be placed in the store. It's about efficiency, time, and money. Therefore, at the stage of concluding a contract for the premises of the future store, we have already drawn up a store plan with shelves and goods in PlanoHero." - Oleksandr Koval, IT Director of E-ZOO.

 

In other words, the stores are still in the planning stages, and all store plans and planograms have already been created and are ready for implementation. 

Previously, E-ZOO did not use tools to work with planograms. Therefore, with the help of PlanoHero service, the chain solved the main problem - to customize the layout of goods.

 

Currently, the chain is actively using the main functionality of developing planograms and controlling store layouts.

Using the service's web version, the planogrammer creates planograms and sends them to stores for execution. Store managers receive new planograms in the PlanoHero Layout app, make shelf displays, and send photo reports of the completed planograms to the office. The office compares the photo report with the planogram, and thus, the chain controls the implementation of planograms.

 

Now merchandisers don't have to guess how the goods will be placed on the shelves. Everything is simple thanks to PlanoHero's intuitive UI. With a few clicks, a ready-made planogram is created and sent to stores. In addition, E-ZOO also talked about improving the efficiency of teams involved in working with planograms. Using the service, each participant in the planogramming process can get the necessary information about the layout, goods, equipment, and stores in a single PlanoHero system.

 

 

Analytics in PlanoHero Service

The analytics module is another service functionality effectively used in the E-ZOO chain.

 

Oleksandr Koval, IT Director at E-ZOO:
"We can receive information about product sales from our ERP system, but it will not be as obvious as in PlanoHero. Analytical reports highlighting positions in the service immediately make it clear what and how to change the layout to increase sales. Which product should be replaced, which should be raised, and which should be moved? And it's much easier than doing it based on guesswork right in front of the shelf. PlanoHero provides dimensions; you can change the planogram, send it to the store, lay out everything according to the new planogram, and make a photo report. Easy."

 

With the help of PlanoHero analytical reports, the E-ZOO chain tracks sales figures by category, product, and store.  They also control stocks and prevent shortages in stores by creating auto-orders for the movement of products.

E-ZOO uses the service's analytics to help confirm or refute hypotheses about further work with the layout.

 

 

PlanoHero Connector

The process of technical integration with PlanoHero service in the E-ZOO chain was carried out through the creation and connection to an intermediate database with the participation of PlanoHero's ETL team. 

However, PlanoHero has recently introduced a new Connector tool that allows our customers to upload the necessary data to the service independently. Now, they can integrate the service and customize the data upload schedule without involving the ETL team. 

 

 

E-ZOO was one of the first customers to try Connector and is currently using it to upload data. The chain shared the functional advantages of the new tool. 

The E-ZOO team appreciated the launch of Connector. This tool has become a real discovery for the chain's technical department. Now, with the help of Connector, the chain's IT specialists can easily upload data to the PlanoHero service and monitor the process in real-time. The automation, convenience, and security of data transfer when using the Connector allows users to focus on important tasks without wasting time on routine processes.
 

 

 

PlanoHero Support Team

"I would like to emphasize the professional and high-quality work of PlanoHero's support team." - Oleksandr Koval, CIO of E-ZOO. He adds that it is not so often that you can find services with high customer support, and PlanoHero is one of them.

 

The prompt response of support managers allows you to resolve any requests quickly. And this allows you to use the service as efficiently as possible and get results.

 

 

Results of Implementing PlanoHero Service in E-ZOO Chain

 

The E-ZOO pet store chain has successfully automated the planogramming process and optimized essential business processes. With the help of the PlanoHero service, they managed to set up:

 

• building store plans from scratch;
• quick creation of planograms;
• sending planograms to stores;
• control over the implementation of the layout using photo reports;
• tracking sales figures.

 

 

Now, the chain understands how and where to place goods to increase sales and effectively manages store displays. 

E-ZOO emphasized that the service helps significantly save time and resources on developing planograms, especially in preparing to open new stores. It helps to avoid delays in product layout and minimize errors. 

Having received a convenient tool for working with planograms, the E-ZOO chain has ensured efficient shelf use and automated the work with planograms. In turn, we received a reliable customer and partner for future development of additional functionality in the PlanoHero service.