Visual merchandising in retail industries across the globe is evolving at an unprecedented pace. As retailers adopt the best merchandising practices and use software to drive their efforts, they take advantage of the opportunities these changes provide. Are you using the right tools to make the most out of this ever-evolving retail environment?
Visual Merchandising Software in Retail: Then Versus Now
Visual merchandising has come a long way over the last few decades. Traditional print planograms have given way to digital planograms which retailers can share with an unlimited number of retail colleagues without additional cost or lag time.
Some things remain the same, however. Retailers still depend on merchandising displays that tell the story of their brands and catch the attention of prospective customers. By creating product displays that appeal to a customer’s multiple senses, visual merchandisers establish and maintain an appealing retail environment that persuades consumers to purchase their goods. They also effectively differentiate their stores from competitors and drive consumer loyalty.
But merchandising strategies in recent years have become increasingly tied to data and metrics that help retailers track the effectiveness of their visual merchandising activities. When it comes to persuading customers to purchase specific product categories or simply trying to get them to buy more, it’s never good enough to rely on guesswork.
Consider marketers within retail that use social media and loyalty programs to get the products they promote at the forefront of a customer’s mind. Much of their efforts and the success of their strategy is dependent on their ability to use software to implement their strategies as well as track progress. The data that results from these efforts helps them determine the success of their strategy and make changes where necessary.
Likewise, retail software provides merchandisers as well as suppliers with powerful tools and a new set of metrics to improve their bottom-line.
Types of Visual Merchandising Retail Software
Effective retailers know how to leverage every square foot of their store! Thanks to visual merchandising software, retailers access the tools they need to gain a deeper understanding of how their retail floor plan affects sales performance. Below are a few types of visual merchandising software in retail that every merchandiser need to know about.
3D Merchandising Software
Our 3D planogram software transforms 2D planograms into a 3D environment that shows retailers how lighting design, time of day, and display elements such as open shelves, pegboards or freezer chests affect the appearance of your products. Scorpion Planogram, for instance, makes it easy to see fixtures from any angle, height, or orientation. View exactly what your customers see in store and gain confidence in performing every task thanks to the knowledge that your in-store product placements will look just as good as the 3D views, if not better.
Best of all, these 3D planogram features enhance a manager’s ability to reliably and effortlessly communicate with the rest of the merchandising, marketing, and sales team. With Scorpion planogram software, you can capture and print both 2D and 3D planogram designs in common formats including PDF, Excel and PNG. As visual merchandising in retail evolves at a breakneck pace, it continues to present retailers with opportunities. Get the tools you need to identify and take advantage of these opportunities.
Floor Planning Software
Knowing the fundamentals of visual merchandising doesn’t always translate into an easy or perfect plan for allocating your floor space. Floor planning software simplifies the process.
With the best store planning tools, it’s easy to view your store layout in various configurations. It’s also easy to recognize how retail floor plans will affect individual displays, and to make decisions that maximise sales.
When it comes to visual merchandising software in retail, merchandisers who use the best programs are better prepared to optimize in-store presentations than their counterparts. More important, the best tools empower retailers to tackle any task that comes their way whether it relates to setting up grocery store facings or seasonal floor displays.
Who Needs Planogram Software?
Now here’s an important question to consider: ‘Do you need a planogram to implement a successful visual merchandising strategy?’ Most likely, the answer to this question is ‘Yes!’, whether you are a retailer or supplier.
Retailers
Some retailers struggle with effectively communicating aisle and shelf designations, especially with retail stores in which modular shelving units and higher employee turnover lead to errors with standard planogram compliance. Across many retail sectors, companies of all sizes use planogram software to improve their retail management.
Larger companies may have a dedicated visual merchandising employee (or even a manager overseeing a visual merchandising team). In contrast, smaller companies may appoint various members of the advertising/marketing/sales team to complete such tasks. Retail professionals who use tools like Scorpion Planogram cross-train employees and reduce redundant merchandising activities. This guarantees that retail staff design planograms faster while increasing planogram compliance.
Suppliers, Distributors, and Wholesalers
It’s also true that suppliers are taking a more hands-on role in visual merchandising by designing planograms. In fact, some suppliers now offer planogram software to retailers which these retailers can, in turn, adopt and automate with incredible speed and accuracy. This allows smaller and independent retailers to leverage some of the same resources that brand stores get from corporate headquarters. Meanwhile, suppliers can earn the trust of new retail clients, and increase shelf placement and buy-in.
In essence, all can benefit from planogram technology, whether they are visual merchandisers or suppliers looking to increase buy-in and build trust with their retail partners. Learn more about the best visual merchandising software in retail or sign up for a live demo here.