Integrating the consumer point of view and how their experience impacts sales, positively or negatively has become essential to retailing today. The effective use of physical space is essential for a retailer’s success. Till recently, store layouts were often designed only keeping the convenience of the store keeper (and not the consumer) in mind with a focus on business efficiency and space management. This led to a direct impact on sales and margins; resulting in business losses eventually leading to even store closures.
Creating a retail space around consumer behaviors and needs directly results in improved customer experience, loyalty and sales. This requires visualizing the consumer journey in the store, through the aisles and around the products. It involves designing elements around shelf utilization, product placement and the visual appeal of the layout. Understanding the psychology of the consumer becomes extremely pertinent during the whole activity of space planning and store layout designing. This is why we need partners who deliver intuitive planograms designs and drafts that not only take into account all the aforementioned parameters but also deliver efficiency of operations.
70% of purchase decisions being made in stores, and 38% of unplanned sales coming from point-of-purchase (POP) displays.
e-commerce only accounts for 14% of all sales, showing that brick-and-mortar retail is still consumers’ preferred mode of shopping.
46% of consumers still prefer shopping in person.
90% of consumers say they are more likely to return again due to positive offline experience, 61% of consumers say they are likely to spend more at a location .
Scientifically designing your store and creatively visualizing your consumer’s journey using key planogram principles
Planograms are most effective when all dimensions of the retail store space are exploited. The retail space includes the aisle and shelf space. It is important to consider placement of products at the right aisle or shelf (height being one of the important parameters) as it can impact the sale of the product. Apart from the shelf and aisle considerations, there are other challenges and considerations that stimulate the purchasing behavior of a consumer
Planograms help retailers plan and use precious retail space. It helps them gather pertinent consumer data and make smarter merchandising choices. There are other benefits that a planogram offers -
In conclusion, planogram is an art as well as a science. At this juncture, brick and mortar retailers have to not only worry about direct competitors but also the new and budding eCommerce players. With real estate getting more and more expensive, it has become ever more important to optimize every square foot of selling space. Retailers are also working hard to find a balance between wanting to sell expensive products to people who can afford them and stocking cheaper options for people who are on a budget. Directing the consumers to the right product, at the right time would lead to enhanced sales, improved profitability and superlative customer engagement. An efficient, creative and analytics driven planogram is the answer to efficient retailing.
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Richa Misra
Richa Misra is a Practice Solutions & GTM Lead for Retail, Consumer Goods, Telecom and Media at Wipro. She has over 20 years of experience in the BPM industry in the areas of training, quality, complaince, service delivery, business development, presales and practice. She has dabbled in multiple industries including BFSI, Retail, Consumer goods, Publishing and has managed global programs, consulting-driven engagements and aligned solutions to business outcomes.
