Reading a planogram is an essential step toward retail optimization. Planograms, also known as POG, assist retailers with visual merchandising. The digitally rendered layout allows business owners and managers to organize products in a way that helps best suit their needs – whether that be to maximize profit margins, drive sales of a specific brand, or guide a customer through a retail space.
While designing a planogram can be straightforward, it is not a one-size-fits-all process. Each retailer has their own needs. This means they need to take a personalized approach to planogram generation. Reading a planogram, especially one tailored to a specific business’s goals, is an important step in the retail optimization process.
Scorpion Retail Planogram software is intuitive and easy to use. But, if you’re struggling to understand the software-generated planogram, this post will walk you through the basics.
How to Read a Planogram
Reading a planogram consists of three steps, regardless of how you create the design.
- Check and record shelf space dimensions: You’ll want an accurate representation of the space with which you are working. Measuring, recording, and entering shelf and end-cap dimensions are the first steps toward an effective planogram.
- Record or generate a product or brand code: Coding items helps streamline the planogram process. For example, you might assign a specific code to all items within a brand, and another code to all items in a product category. Creating this multidimensional coding allows users to easily manipulate the planogram.
- Identify product facings: Product facings are the orientation and number of products you can fit on a shelf. The product facings are the part of the product a customer will actually see. If your retailer sells pens and pencils, pens may have three product facings, or three product options, while pencils may have five product facings, or five product options.
Planogramming also includes double-checking all essential information, dimensions, and product codes. Once a retailer generates and reads their planogram, they can begin implementing changes inside the store. However, Scorpion users can easily reconfigure their designs multiple times before setting out to reorganize shelves. This helps save time, money, and labor.
What to Look for in a Planogram Tool
Reading a planogram is simple when you use an intuitive planogram software. That’s where Scorpion becomes helpful. Creating planograms is difficult when you have to manually import data. By contrast, Scorpion automatically synchronizes data, making the planogram process both productive and efficient.
Sharing your planogram is also easy with Scorpion. If you want multiple people to read the software-generated design, you can export in any type of file, then send the planogram to various store, colleagues, or managers. The software can also be installed in-house, which minimizes security risks.
Best of all, Scorpion Planogram makes it easy to read the final design. First-time planogrammers will appreciate the platform’s simple drag-and-drop features, click-and-drag resize, and menu-driven format. Whether you’re new to planograms or looking for a more efficient option, Scorpion Planogram is the tool to choose.