Guide to Grocery Store Merchandising Success

Merchandising in grocery stores is being transformed by digital merchandising tools and automation that increase process efficiency and improve the customer experience. Technology solutions for merchandising are changing grocery merchandising, shelf management, and cross-merchandising. In this article, we'll look at the key strategies and technology integrations that help grocery stores better organize merchandising practices and improve shelf space.

Why is Technology so Critical to Grocery Store Merchandising?

Modern merchandising solutions help retailers maximize the use of retail space, create attractive displays, and manage shelf space based on data. One of the most popular tools is PlanoHero, which optimizes the display process, automates shelf space management and ensures consistent retail merchandising across stores.

How to Organize Store Merchandising in PlanoHero?

First, users create a store plan and equipment and then develop planograms that determine the optimal product placement on the shelves. The system allows you to automate product distribution, considering historical sales, product parameters, and agreements with suppliers. PlanoHero also offers tools for monitoring the layout - you can receive photo reports from stores, view analytics on the effectiveness of the goods arrangement, and quickly adjust planograms to ensure compliance with chain standards and maximize sales.

Basic Techniques of Successful Merchandising

Effective merchandising is based on 5 Rs (rules):

• Right product - ensure the right products are available and visible on the shelves.
• Right place - place products based on customer behavior and sales data.
• Right time - implement seasonal and promotional displays when they’re most relevant.
• Right quantity - maintain optimal stock levels to avoid overstocked or empty shelves.
• Right price - provide clear pricing so customers can make informed decisions.

What Do You Need For Successful Merchandising?

Best grocery merchandising techniques for retailers

Create an attractive display! Visual merchandising in grocery stores is not only about what products you sell but also about how they are presented. Well-designed displays attract customers, encourage impulse purchases, and create an unforgettable in-store experience.

Visual merchandising is essential for attracting customers to new or promotional products. Planogram solutions allow retailers to test visual merchandising strategies by creating virtual displays and evaluating their potential. Use technology to organize products on shelves.

Shelf Placement for Visibility and Sales

Shelf placement plays a critical role in influencing customers' purchasing decisions. Retailers should use strategic shelf layouts to highlight key products and ensure they are easily accessible. Focus on these points:

Product Segmentation

Start by segmenting products into categories based on price, product type, and demand. This will help you determine which products to place in the best locations.

Allocate Shelf Space

Allocate space for each category based on its sales, profit, and inventory turnover. High-performing categories should be given more shelf space and in the best locations, while low-performing categories may need less space or a less prominent location. Plan shelf layout to create a visually appealing and customer-friendly shopping environment. Consider factors such as product visibility, accessibility, and convenience.

Vertical Merchandising

Arrange products vertically, placing high-margin, popular products at eye level and less profitable products on lower or higher shelves. This encourages customers to notice and potentially buy the best-selling products first. Shelf efficiency is about maximizing every inch of shelf space to increase visibility and sales. Digital merchandising tools help to organize the best placement of goods based on sales data, product parameters, and demand.

Cross Merchandising to Increase Sales

Cross-merchandising is a strategic approach to the placement of complementary products. You can use BI analytics to get data about the products customers usually buy together in a shopping cart. This information can then be used to combine products when creating a layout. Cross-merchandising involves placing complementary products together to increase the chances of customers buying more. For example, place chips next to salsa or coffee mugs next to coffee beans. Here's an example of how to place hot mitts next to pasta.

This practice can encourage impulse purchases and improve the shopping experience. Group-related products that customers are likely to buy together to make it easier for them to find everything they need in one place. Highlight special promotions or discounts on cross-selling products to increase their appeal.

Digital merchandising solutions help to implement various cross-merchandising ideas based on the data obtained. This helps to increase the average receipt and customer convenience.

Planogram Implementation

A planogram is a visual map that shows where each product should be placed on the shelves. This tool helps to ensure consistency between different store locations and provides a clear strategy for product placement.

Use planogramming software to customize these display schemes in your stores. With tools like PlanoHero, you can create, adjust, and even automate updates to store layouts. This simplifies product placement across locations, ensuring consistency and better sales results. Use a planogram to create detailed layouts that optimize shelf space efficiency and align with your store's branding and sales goals.

Update planograms regularly to reflect seasonal changes, new products, or customer preferences. Use sales data and seasonal trends to reorganize product categories throughout the year. Regular updates will keep your product layout up-to-date and relevant to your customers' needs.

Create Unique or Standardized (Format) Planograms

There are often stores in the chain that require individual planograms. This can happen, for example, because of non-standard equipment or differences in assortment due to local demand. Or, on the contrary, stores need a consistent presentation across all stores. The functionality of PlanoHero allows you to create both unique planograms for different stores and a standardized layout across the entire chain. Thus, when creating layout rules for specific categories, brands, or other parameters, you can save such rules in the service and then apply them to the planograms of other stores.

Control Layout Implementation

The central office can track the implementation of planograms through the PlanoHero service. This can be done via PlanoHero Layout mobile app. The merchandiser creates a planogram in PlanoHero web version and sets a task for the store to execute the layout. The store manager receives the new planogram in the app, arranges the shelves according to the planogram, and sends back a photo report of the result. This ensures that the layout executed according to the planogram is accurate and up-to-date.

Control Product Availability

Effective merchandising is not only about displaying products but also about ensuring that they are always available in the store when customers need them. Shortages can lead to lost sales and disappointed customers.

PlanoHero helps to manage the assortment, providing timely information about the actual state of affairs with the available goods. The service's functionality allows you to track:

• products with zero balances;
• products that have not yet been displayed on planograms;
• goods that need to be deleted.

Access to such information guarantees quick replenishment of stocks and minimizes product holes (empty spaces) on the shelves.

Conclusion

By integrating digital tools into merchandising, grocery stores can optimize display, improve product visibility, and increase sales. Technology provides an easy and efficient way to set up effective merchandising. Tools like PlanoHero offer automation and ease the management of in-store displays, giving retailers the flexibility to customize and analytics to create an attractive and efficient shopping environment.