In a retail store, every meter of space should “work” and generate revenues. A planogram is a useful tool that allows you to optimize sales and stocks from a given product category.

It allows you to assign the right location for particular type of assortment, set the right amount of space for product categories and keep the right order in the store.

A planogram is a visual diagram or drawing – a graphical representation of the sales space, that provides details on the placement of every product in a retail store. These schematics not only present a flow chart for the particular merchandise departments within a store layout but locate a specific shelf on which an item is located.

The complexity of a planogram may vary by the size of the store and the software used to create it – for this purpose, you can use both a standard Excel spreadsheet as well as specialized planogram software.

When preparing a planogram, both in a large and small store, it is worth remembering a few basic rules:

1. The customer reads the shelf in the store like a book – from left to right. That is why the products on the shelves are set from the largest to the smallest, starting from the left side.
2. The linear arrangement of goods will be better suited to small commercial spaces, for bigger block arrangement will be more effective.
3. Fast-moving products are placed on the lower parts of the exhibition, slow-moving above.
4. Products of the same brand should be located next to each other – vertically or horizontally.

Preparing the planogram should permanently enter the scope of activities that we perform when managing the store. It is worth to use a few good practices that will help you achieve better results at a lower cost.

• Start with simple solutions

Too many retailers make the planogram process too complicated. If it takes a ton of time to create, then your likelihood of doing it every month will grow less and less as time passes. It is not worth to adopt a process that you cannot sustain. It will only frustrate your employees.

• Train your employees

Spend time training the employees on how to use a planogram. Explain the benefits of using it in order to anticipate any criticism in the style of “What do we need it for?”.

• Assign your leaders

In your store, you should have leaders of each section. Allow them to design and plan their part of the planogram. It can improve sales in your store and prepare employees for management.

Almost every owner of the store (both of large and small), realizes that today the key tool which helps to increase sales is visual merchandising – presenting the product in a way that attracts customers’ attention. Bigger retailers usually use the services of specialists in this matter, so it is worth to learn how our visual merchandiser “understands” planograms and whether he intends to use them in his work. Planogram is a tool that can affect the customer’s purchasing decisions and increase sales in our store.