What is planogram?

Smart use of your store’s physical space is essential for your business to flourish. At the end of the day, you pay for that space, items take it up, and shoppers travel around the space before they buy. That is why you need to ensure the planogram of your shop. But what is planogram? Read to learn more about it.

What is a planogram?

A planogram, often utilized by retail businesses for enhancing visual merchandising, is a visual representation or schematic drawing that impeccably captures the essence of a physical store’s layout. This comprehensive tool empowers retailers to strategically plan their store layout and product placement to drive sales and optimize customer experience.  Studies have shown that effective planogram implementation can lead to an impressive 8% increase in sales.

The primary objective of a planogram is to ensure that customers can easily locate and access products while navigating through the store. By considering crucial factors such as product demand, category flow, and merchandising principles, a planogram aids in maximizing available shelf space and efficiently organizing product categories.

Benefits

Now that you know what planograms are, you must delve into their numerous advantages for your business success. Planograms are not merely visual merchandising tools but potent instruments for maximizing sales, improving the customer experience, and optimizing your store’s layout. Strategically placing products enhances sales, reduces out-of-stock situations, and fosters customer satisfaction. Efficient space utilization and inventory management are key benefits, ensuring that you make the most of your retail floor and storage areas while minimizing wasted space and lost sales opportunities.

Moreover, the flexibility of planograms lets you adapt to changing seasons and customer preferences while maintaining brand consistency. By utilizing these data-driven tools, your business gains a competitive advantage as customers are drawn to an organized and attractive shopping environment, fostering customer loyalty and, ultimately, your success.

Data Integration

It enables efficient and seamless integration with your current data server and systems like ConnectPOS, a trusted provider. The system helps all the planogram designs to kick off well by offering data like stock data and goods sales information. 

This powerful combination of the planogram and ConnectPOS empowers retailers to manage their stock efficiently, leading to better organization and easier employee inventory management. For example, when implemented correctly, it tracks inventory levels in real time. This makes it easier for staff to identify out-of-stock products and restock shelves accordingly.

Moreover, having a dedicated zone for every product in a suitable area means less hassle for employees and customers. Recent statistics suggest that implementing Planogram and ConnectPOS has led to a 15% reduction in stock-outs and, as a result, a 10% increase in overall sales.

Maximize Space and Sales

What is a planogram benefit in this regard? The implementation of this representation enables a store to become well-organized and purpose-driven. By strategically assigning specific functions to each zone, you can improve your shoppers’ experience and increase sales. This tactic allows for efficient space management and supports cross-merchandising strategies.

For instance, the arrangement in the image below positions dairy products in the store’s far back corner. This careful layout encourages customers to walk past various other products, ultimately increasing their chances of impulse purchasing.

According to a recent report, an organized store layout can lead to a 16% increase in impulse buys. This is a significant boost for any retail business seeking to expand its profit margins while providing an enjoyable shopping experience.

Some popular planogram techniques include using shelf dividers for clean segmentation, displaying complementary products nearby, and grouping similar items together. By incorporating these tactics into your store’s layout design, you can effectively direct consumer attention towards a wider range of items and stimulate additional sales.

How to Make Use of a Planogram for Your Shop

Employ a Planogrammer

A planogram is a professional who specializes in creating planograms. A planogram is a visual representation or diagram that shows the placement of products on store shelves or displays to maximize sales and optimize space utilization. The planogrammer’s role is to design these planograms based on various factors such as product assortment, sales data, marketing objectives, and customer behavior.

Ideally, let an expert join your company. But what if your company isn’t big enough to hire someone specializing only in planograms? You then have the option of scheduling tasks for a visual salesperson.

Ask Planogram Experts for Help

Another option is hiring 3rd-party experts. Make use of your competencies to work out the planogram. Envirosell is an example. It is dedicated to visual merchandising through behavioral research.

They consider product categorization, shelf space allocation, product facing, shelving height, and promotional displays to create effective and visually appealing planograms.

Count on Software

Your best choice of software has to do with your demands and budget. This software is crucial in enhancing the shopping experience, driving sales, and improving operational efficiency by strategically arranging products within a retail environment. For instance, DotActiv boasts the offer of planogram software for free, which is great for you to begin with. Or you can consider paid options with enhanced attributes, for example, ShopShape.

DIY the Planogram

Another choice is to DIY your visual merchandising by leveraging planogram templates. A few businesses follow the conventional way, with a pen and paper, and draw out their store’s space for scaling. Should you not be confident enough with your savviness, we suggest using tools in Google Docs to do so. In general, consider leveraging an available template or making one using a tool intended for visuals like Photoshop. There are some examples in SmartDraw for your reference.

Conclusion

It is significant to understand a planogram and think about using it. A planogram serves as a valuable tool for retail businesses to create visually appealing merchandising displays and boost sales. It is indeed a crucial part of your visual merchandising approach. Thanks to the smart planning of your shop layout and its integration with POS, your business will benefit in many ways. For greater detail about what is a planogram and the perks of using POS in tandem with a planogram, contact us!