Shelf Space Optimization with Planogram Software

In today's retail business, shelf space management has become a key strategy affecting store performance. Hundreds of thousands of different SKUs (stock-keeping units) require a special layout, storage, and sales approach. So how can a store remain profitable in the face of growing competition and expanding retail outlets? The answer lies in using planograms - tools for managing the layout of goods on the shelves.

Why is Shelf Space Management Important?

Shelf space management is not just about placing products on the shelves. It is a strategic process that helps to maximize the use of available space on the sales floor, ensuring an attractive presentation of goods and maximizing sales. In addition, shelf management helps to reduce warehouse costs and improve customer satisfaction.

As the number of stores grows, so do the challenges: how to place products in a way that maximizes customer accessibility, efficiently utilize retail space, control the display, and establish communication between the central office and stores. All these issues can be solved by shelf space management software, namely tools for working with planograms.

Benefits of Shelf Space Management with a Planogram Tool

Increased sales and profits. Correct product placement and strategic visibility on shelves help increase sales as products become more accessible and attractive to customers. Planogram software allows you to carefully plan and place products and determine the optimal number of faces for the best balance on the shelves.

Efficient inventory management. Tools for creating planograms allow you to more accurately predict the required inventory by analyzing sales and consumer demand data. This helps to reduce the risk of shortages or overstocks by optimizing storage costs and ensuring that products are available on the shelves at the right time.

Maximize space utilization. Planogram programs allow you to manage shelves as efficiently as possible, utilizing the available retail space. PlanoHero allows you to quickly customize the layout of a planogram based on equipment parameters, retail space, and product characteristics. This helps to use the retail space more efficiently, placing products in a way that maximizes the use of each square meter and increases profitability.

Process unification and layout standardization. With PlanoHero, you can create format planograms that unify the display of goods in different stores of the same chain. This facilitates the process of managing shelf space, simplifies staff training, and reduces the risk of errors when displaying goods.

Effective control over the layout execution. The use of mobile applications allows you to control the layout in real time. This ensures a quick response to any deviations from the planned arrangement of goods. Store staff can send photo reports or updates directly from the point of sale, allowing managers to make quick adjustments and ensure compliance with merchandising standards.

Analytics and layout optimization. Modern planogram tools provide the ability to analyze the effectiveness of various strategies for placing goods using data on sales, customer behavior, and market trends. This allows you to constantly improve the layout, adapting to changes in demand and customer needs, providing a competitive advantage in the market.

Strategies for Shelf Space Optimization

Setting merchandising standards. To effectively manage shelf space, it is important to have clear standards for displaying products, rules for conducting promotions, and standards for placing POS advertising. Such standards help to unify work in different outlets, simplify staff training, and reduce the impact of the human factor on business processes.

Consider the elasticity of the layout. When creating planograms, it is important to consider the dependence of sales volume on the number of faces (the number of rows of products on the shelf). It is known that the product becomes noticeable to the buyer when there is a minimum number of faces, and increasing the number of displays to a certain level helps to increase sales. However, excessive layout can lead to a decrease in sales efficiency.

Automate the process of creating planograms. Modern software solutions allow you to automate the process of creating planograms, taking into account inventory, the size of the store, and other factors. This significantly reduces planning time and allows you to make changes quickly.

Experiments based on analytics. Continuous testing of different product layout concepts, such as pyramidal displays, can help determine the most effective strategies for a particular store. Analytics helps to understand which methods of product layout work best and adjust planograms accordingly.

Conclusion

Optimizing shelf space with planograms is critical to the success of a modern store. Using software, establishing clear merchandising standards, considering the layout's elasticity, and continuously improving shelf space management methods will help increase sales efficiency and reduce costs. Retailers can significantly improve their performance and remain competitive by investing in shelf space management. Try a free PlanoHero demo to learn how to effectively manage your store's shelf space!