Category Management: Planograms Are Not Just Pretty Pictures

Apollo, JDA, ProSpace and the Fundamentals of Space Management... 

The consumer packaged goods industry invests billions of dollars every year in effective sales, marketing and supply chain support for retail.  These investments focus primarily on things like  consumer advertising, marketing new products, distribution, data systems and technology, market research, and so on.  Space management determines how all of these other investments come together at the shelf  – where shoppers meet products “face to face” and most importantly, where purchase decisions are made.  In many cpg organizations, space management is left to the space management professionals,  with little consideration for how new products are going to fit in the planogram, and how the new items will affect the productivity of the total planogram for the retailer.

Merchandising is also regaining importance, especially within Category Management & shopper-centric merchandising models.  A combination of shifting demographics and changing industry dynamics, coupled with all of the new software and technologies available in the industry, is resulting in a shift in the thinking on merchandising best practices. There’s an opportunity for retailers and suppliers to take advantage of all of the knowledge and capabilities related to space management through category management training, resulting in more focus on the consumer, more strategic space management, and ultimately, enhanced business results.

Space management is not well understood by many sales and marketing teams within supplier organizations – there tends to be a belief that space management understanding should be left to the “tekkies” or space management professionals.  The opportunity is for sales and marketing to learn more about the fundamentals of space management, including key terms, measures, and the basics about planograms.  This knowledge arms cpg companies with space management knowledge, including the strengths & weaknesses of their brands on the shelf vs competition, and the implications of shelving recommendations on the retailer’s planogram and total category.  This results in win-win solutions for both supplier and retailer.

Following is a video entitled “Category Management Training:  Planograms Aren’t Just Pretty Pictures”, which will walk you through 5 tips that relate to space management that are relevant for sales, marketing and category management:

httpv://www.cmkg.org/u/CMKG026.aspx

Originally posted on www.category-management.ca and can be found here.