Introduction to merchandising
What is merchandising and why does everyone need it?
Merchandising is one of the marketing tools. It is a set of measures designed to turn the process of selecting goods and buying them into an attractive experience for the customer and, ultimately, to increase sales.
Merchandising is based on the rules of presentation of goods in the retail network, formulated in the course of many years of observation of customer behavior in stores, which shows certain patterns.
There is a certain conventional route along which the buyer moves to the place where he can buy goods. Managing the flow of customers and providing favorable conditions for making a purchase is one of the main tasks of merchandising.
Most often shoppers move counterclockwise around the perimeter of the hall and do not like to start from the middle rows. They are reluctant to go back, as in this case they have to move against the oncoming flow. They prefer the counters on the right and like to "cut corners".
Thus, the behavior of buyers during the passage through the sales area is approximately known. But when buying, they act according to different schemes.
We can conditionally distinguish three types of buyers. "Determined" even before coming to the store know what brand they will give preference to, and buy this product constantly. "Migrating" often change brands within the same product group. "Undecided" try all the new products, make an impulsive decision to buy and, as a rule, are exposed to advertising.
The "migrating" buyers are the most numerous, followed by the "undecided", and the smallest group is the "determined".
Merchandising is based on the rules of presentation of goods in the retail network, formulated in the course of many years of observation of customer behavior in stores, which shows certain patterns.
There is a certain conventional route along which the buyer moves to the place where he can buy goods. Managing the flow of customers and providing favorable conditions for making a purchase is one of the main tasks of merchandising.
Most often shoppers move counterclockwise around the perimeter of the hall and do not like to start from the middle rows. They are reluctant to go back, as in this case they have to move against the oncoming flow. They prefer the counters on the right and like to "cut corners".
Thus, the behavior of buyers during the passage through the sales area is approximately known. But when buying, they act according to different schemes.
We can conditionally distinguish three types of buyers. "Determined" even before coming to the store know what brand they will give preference to, and buy this product constantly. "Migrating" often change brands within the same product group. "Undecided" try all the new products, make an impulsive decision to buy and, as a rule, are exposed to advertising.
The "migrating" buyers are the most numerous, followed by the "undecided", and the smallest group is the "determined".
In light of the above, we can refer to merchandising tools as:
ways of displaying goods;
assortment;
plan of equipment arrangement on the hall;
the style of the sales area: the geometry of the room, design, lighting, temperature, background music;
supply of advertising materials at the point of sale;
information support of the sales area, e.g. video presentations, announcements
use of various additional equipment: refrigeration units, palletizing, shelving, display cases, etc.
Migrating and undecided buyers - these are exactly the consumer groups, which are aimed at merchandisers' activities. In the end, merchandising is a way to compete right at the point of sale. It is the last chance to push the customer to choose a particular brand.
Standard systems of automation of business processes do not solve the problems that face merchandising.
GreenShelf specialists have created a system to improve the efficiency of merchandisers' work.
ways of displaying goods;
assortment;
plan of equipment arrangement on the hall;
the style of the sales area: the geometry of the room, design, lighting, temperature, background music;
supply of advertising materials at the point of sale;
information support of the sales area, e.g. video presentations, announcements
use of various additional equipment: refrigeration units, palletizing, shelving, display cases, etc.
Migrating and undecided buyers - these are exactly the consumer groups, which are aimed at merchandisers' activities. In the end, merchandising is a way to compete right at the point of sale. It is the last chance to push the customer to choose a particular brand.
Standard systems of automation of business processes do not solve the problems that face merchandising.
GreenShelf specialists have created a system to improve the efficiency of merchandisers' work.
Merchandising tools
The system consists of several modules:
The module "Equipment Designer" is designed to solve the following tasks:
Selecting the type of equipment and setting its dimensions. Then the planogram created in the system will be linked to this equipment.
Creating a detailed specification in case of purchasing new equipment or adjusting the existing one.
Accounting of existing racks and their components.
The task of trade equipment management, as a rule, is not in the field of view of software developers.
In GreenShelf system this possibility is realized, unlike standard automation systems existing on the market.
The module "Equipment Designer" is designed to solve the following tasks:
Selecting the type of equipment and setting its dimensions. Then the planogram created in the system will be linked to this equipment.
Creating a detailed specification in case of purchasing new equipment or adjusting the existing one.
Accounting of existing racks and their components.
The task of trade equipment management, as a rule, is not in the field of view of software developers.
In GreenShelf system this possibility is realized, unlike standard automation systems existing on the market.
GreenShelf system automates merchandising processes
Planograms module
Here the user can create planograms manually.
It is possible to display goods "gross" or "net" with a different set of sizes and images, positioning full-face or sideways on the shelves.
There is a function of group adding of goods.
The system implements the possibility of internal coordination of the planogram taking into account its life cycle.
Besides, it is possible to quickly import planograms into GreenShelf using Excel.
The Store Plan module allows you to:
Module "Tasks"
It is intended for setting tasks for the store personnel.
In order to control the fulfillment of tasks, the possibility to create photo reports is implemented.
In the same module you can send a planogram for approval.
The system takes into account the phase of the planogram life cycle:
"Draft", "For approval", "Agreed", "Active", "Archive", i.e. it can be assigned a corresponding status.
The "Analytics" module allows you to get feedback on decisions made earlier, analyze how effective a particular planogram is, and take it into account in further work.
On the basis of analytical reports, decisions are made on assortment matrices: on the introduction or withdrawal of certain goods.
The system offers recommendations to improve the efficiency of planograms based on sales data.
Automatic Layout" module
Designed for automatic creation of planograms.
GreenShelf system takes into account a huge number of factors: terms of marketing agreements with suppliers, product balances in warehouses, customer demand, basic rules of product display, including margins, revenue and others.
Planograms can be generated according to specified criteria:
Here the user can create planograms manually.
It is possible to display goods "gross" or "net" with a different set of sizes and images, positioning full-face or sideways on the shelves.
There is a function of group adding of goods.
The system implements the possibility of internal coordination of the planogram taking into account its life cycle.
Besides, it is possible to quickly import planograms into GreenShelf using Excel.
The Store Plan module allows you to:
- Create sales floor plans in the system.
- Arrange equipment on the plan, combine equipment in complex groups, for example, gondolas.
- Use color indication of equipment and planograms.
- Conduct zoning of the sales area.
- Plan advertising space.
- Create heat maps of efficiency by sales area and piece of equipment.
- Analyze sales in the context of trade zones and various indicators per m2.
Module "Tasks"
It is intended for setting tasks for the store personnel.
In order to control the fulfillment of tasks, the possibility to create photo reports is implemented.
In the same module you can send a planogram for approval.
The system takes into account the phase of the planogram life cycle:
"Draft", "For approval", "Agreed", "Active", "Archive", i.e. it can be assigned a corresponding status.
The "Analytics" module allows you to get feedback on decisions made earlier, analyze how effective a particular planogram is, and take it into account in further work.
- Reports can be obtained from the system:
- Evaluation of the efficiency of each trade zone, sales analysis, profit indicators per m2.
- Analysis of the efficiency of display and use of the store's trade space.
- Comparative analysis of efficiency of planogram variants.
- Heat map of revenue, profit, residuals.
- Representation of brands in the product section: analysis of block and continuity of brand display.
- Control of planograms for the presence of SKUs excluded from the product matrix
- Reflection of low-margin goods occupying "valuable" space
- Detailed analysis of planograms in terms of properties, matrices, categories and equipment.
On the basis of analytical reports, decisions are made on assortment matrices: on the introduction or withdrawal of certain goods.
The system offers recommendations to improve the efficiency of planograms based on sales data.
Automatic Layout" module
Designed for automatic creation of planograms.
GreenShelf system takes into account a huge number of factors: terms of marketing agreements with suppliers, product balances in warehouses, customer demand, basic rules of product display, including margins, revenue and others.
Planograms can be generated according to specified criteria:
- Category of goods
- Group-subgroup of goods
- Price segment
- Shelf priority
The creation of GreenShelf is of great importance for the retail market.
Market trends give us reason to believe that companies that seek to automate merchandising processes gain an undoubted competitive advantage in the fierce battle for customer loyalty.
Market trends give us reason to believe that companies that seek to automate merchandising processes gain an undoubted competitive advantage in the fierce battle for customer loyalty.