Quite often, when you come home from a store (especially a supermarket), and critically assessing considerable volumes of purchases (necessary and not so necessary), you think about the reasons that prompt you to make such rash expenses. And there is a rather logical explanation for everything - merchandising, in accordance with which a competent display of goods on the trading floor was made.
Merchandising
A natural consequence of the improvement and saturation of the market is the intensification of competition not only between producers, but also between trading organizations, on which the final result of the effectiveness of the entire production often depends to a greater extent. It is merchandising, that is, a system of measures to increase sales in retail trade and create an atmosphere conducive to this, contributes to the successful sale of goods. Literally translated from English, this term means the trading process.
The basic principles of marketing strategies are formed as a result of a thorough analysis of the behavioral patterns of customers. Thus, the basics of merchandising are in the preparation of clear, psychologically justified measures aimed at stimulating purchases. If we take into account that on average more than 70% of goods are purchased impulsively, without a deliberate preliminary decision on the need for such a purchase, then it becomes clear the ever-increasing effectiveness of merchandising in modern conditions.
Properly performed display of goods on the trading floor - as the first step or the basis of merchandising - should ensure maximum availability of products, as well as visually affect a person, helping to attract his attention to the object of purchase.
Marketing strategy
Properly organized display of goods in the store is the most significant part of the marketing strategy. One of the most important conditions for the sale of a product is its visual visibility, attractiveness. Analyzing the actual turnover, marketers came to fairly logical conclusions: products placed on shelves at the level of human eyes have the highest sales rates. However, there are many other factors that have a significant impact on sales volumes.
Target areas
The display of goods is used to achieve various narrowly focused, often overlapping goals:
- Increase in volume indicators of sales.
- The formation of consumer confidence in the product.
- Strengthening the impact of the brand on the consumer and the formation of persistent taste priorities.
- Increasing competitiveness among similar products.
- The acquisition of well-deserved recognition in the field of successful product promotion.
Product Presentation Options
Various options for the presentation of goods are determined by the specifics of individual sales offers, purchasing needs and taste preferences.
Style or species grouping is done in food, household and manufactured goods stores, where this type of placement is traditionally used in relation to all categories of goods. For example, sections with outerwear and summer collections, shoes, haberdashery and so on are located in various departments of the store.
An ideological grouping is most often based on a concept, or simply the reputation and image of a shopping facility. For example, the salons that sell furniture according to the samples exhibit the most attractive pieces for a complete visual perception. At the same time, the surrounding interior is reproduced in accordance with the most fashionable trends, emphasizing the merits of the advertised products.
The color scheme when laying out goods is typical of shops and boutiques with high trade margins, designed for the most prosperous category of consumers. Such a contingent attracts the brightness of the image, stimulating them to buy.
The price grouping allows customers to evaluate the variety of the assortment and choose products at the most suitable price, and a large-scale display gives customers an idea of low prices for a huge number of similar products.
When frontal presentation of a product in expanded form, the buyer is shown all its features, maximally emphasizing their attractiveness.
Placement of departments and groups of goods
Logically sound placement of certain types of products on the trading floor is the result of an adequate assessment of several fundamental factors:
- The number of purchases per unit time of certain groups of goods, i.e., the frequency of their acquisition.
- Dimensions and weight of products sold.
- The number of different product modifications.
- The time and spatial distance necessary for the buyer to inspect or review a potential purchase, as well as select the most attractive item from the analogues on the shelf.
In addition to quantitatively assessed factors, the display of goods directly depends on the quality and texture of the products offered, packaging, image and layout of the store, the profitability of certain groups of goods.
For example, in elite salons and boutiques, the presented products are often combined according to their stylistic and color similarity. In stores with an average price level, goods are usually grouped by size, and in retail outlets with minimal prices they can be placed simply in containers.
Driving directions
To achieve maximum rationality in the use of existing retail space, it is necessary to determine the sequence of departments in the store as a whole, and the choice of the most suitable place for each section. Having considered the formed route of movement in a large store, experienced marketers place departments with insignificant, impulsive goods on the way to the sections with the most frequent purchases. So, a person who wants to acquire only certain things is forced to go through other departments in which a properly organized display of goods literally lures and forces you to make a purchase.
The art of displaying goods
The methods used for laying out goods traditionally depend on the location of the products being sold in relation to homogeneous products and specialized equipment.
When laid horizontally, homogeneous goods are evenly distributed along the entire length of the shelf. At the same time, in one direction, the units are ranked as the volume decreases (or increases), according to the serialization of the output, having the most overall and cheapest on the lower shelves. And products intended for quick sale should be in the maximum availability for the buyer and in a certain way attract attention to themselves.
With this placement, the least popular products located near the more popular analogues will be in high demand, partially borrowing consumer sympathies from them.
With the vertical laying method, homogeneous products are arranged in racks in several rows: smaller and lighter - on the upper shelves, and their larger counterparts - on the lower. This method improves the quality of visual perception and is quite convenient for customers, regardless of their growth. Most often, this is the layout of goods used in large trading floors of self-service stores.
The display method of calculation is carried out using additional points of sale, that is, goods are displayed on a separate stand or stand in the most favorable view. The location of such a stand is in no way tied to the actual place of sale of a product.
Planogram
Presentation of the goods to the buyer should not be chaotic, but in accordance with a previously thought out and executed manually or on a computer circuit (drawing, drawing or photograph), which is called a planogram. On it, each position of the laid out assortment list should be displayed as detailed as possible with an indication of the exact location for each trading unit. A planogram of product display is compiled taking into account the wishes of suppliers and customers, as well as the capabilities of the retailer. The time spent on its preparation, as a result, significantly reduces the time required to place products on the trading floor. In addition, many software products have been developed that significantly simplify and accelerate the process of such detailing.
The planogram of the goods display should be approved by the head of the outlet, and all subsequent changes to it must also be approved.
General principles
Depending on the specifics of the store and products sold, when developing a planogram, they adhere to a wide variety of positions. But the general principles of product display are as follows:
- The principle of visibility - is implemented in creating visual appeal and accessibility for review.
- Achieving the highest efficiency with reasonably reasonable costs (rational use of commercial equipment and space). For each type of product, areas are allocated that approximately correspond to their sales volumes. Maximum areas - for quickly sold or advertised goods; the latter, in turn, should be located in the most viewed places of the trading floor. Do not forget about ensuring easy access to the laid out products.
- Consistency. The placement and display of goods is carried out in complex blocks, that is, things that are interconnected by any feature are grouped in one place. For example, household goods, and nearby - a showcase with dishes, etc.
- Compatibility of nearby goods with respect to each other, i.e., the negative influence of product neighbors should be excluded. Spread coffee products should not be placed next to spices or wet products. Such a neighborhood will adversely affect the consumer properties of the goods sold (coffee can itself acquire a foreign smell, or can give it to surrounding objects).
- Impulsively purchased items must be in close proximity to high-demand products. For example, the correct alternation of expensive and cheap goods allows you to increase the profitability of the store, drawing attention to units that are diametrically opposite in their properties. At the same time, aesthetics and safety of laid out products must be ensured.
- It is very important to monitor the adequacy of the layout, i.e., the most complete representation of the available assortment, depending on the retail space, the specifics of the outlet and demand for the proposed list of goods, as well as the whole complex of marketing policy.
- To create a captivating store image, quite often (especially when it is opened) they resort to lowering trade margins, promotions and discounts. Such a marketing move is provided for the formation of lasting sympathies of customers for a shopping facility.
The specifics of the layout of food products
The layout of food products is designed to provide not only accessibility, but also maximum preservation. Depending on the storage conditions, the packaging used and other factors, various methods of their sale are used. Liquid products in bottles are conveniently arranged in several rows on shelves, occasionally right in the drawers. Meat, fish and sausage products - in refrigerated display cases, displaying the buyer cut goods in the most attractive form. Packaged products (or in packs) are carefully laid out in rows or stacks on shelves, grouping units by type.
For bakery products, near-wall and island slides are used, as well as special equipment that ensures compliance with sanitary storage standards. This display of goods (photo above) is the most rational for its preservation.
Features of the calculation of industrial goods
For industrial goods, their maximum distinction is divided into groups in accordance with the types, articles and purpose. Clothing, for example, can be distributed across the trading floor depending on styles, seasonality, gender, age and other characteristics. Hats are placed on special consoles, as well as designs of various configurations, allowing the most profitable show one or another thing. The display of goods in the store allows you to plan an effective direction of consumer flows, contributing to the profitability of the trading business.
It is very important when planning the layout to provide that the product is not closed by a queue that limits its visibility and accessibility. At the same time, its front side should be best presented to the gaze of the consumer. It is believed that the most advantageous arrangement of shelving is on the left side of the direction of movement of the main consumer flow. With uniform loading of goods on the shelves, that part of which the maximum marketing efforts are directed should be approximately at eye level, and in addition, it should be located close to the cash zone. Strengthening the impact on consumer sympathy can be achieved through a variety of advertising media. An increase in turnover occurs when exhibiting the same product at once in several areas of the trading facility.
Product placement options
The reasonableness of placing goods in the store significantly increases sales. To most effectively attract the attention of the buyer, quite a variety of types of display of goods using special equipment are used:
- Shelves and shelving.
- Counters and special exhibitions.
- Wire baskets and floor pallets.
- Separately located stands.
- Distribution machines.
- Advertised packaging, beautiful boxes, etc.
Exhibitions of goods in advertising packages look very impressive. High-quality and expensive printing, competently provided by the manufacturer, is of particular interest to store visitors, attracting attention primarily to themselves.
Features merchandising in a pharmacy
The use of a competent marketing strategy in the pharmacy chain has some features in relation to other retail facilities. Merchandising in a pharmacy is a comprehensive activity to increase sales through promotional events aimed at attracting the attention of consumers to over-the-counter drugs. One of the most important features of a pharmacy outlet is the specifics of consumer psychology, often expressed in rather shy behavior: the client tries to get the most information in the windows before asking questions, for example, about medicines for fungal or sexually transmitted diseases, as well as other, quite intimate medicines . In pharmacies, a specific system of rubrics is being developed that facilitate the search for the necessary information on therapeutic groups of medications.
In addition, looking for a medicine, a potential buyer examines the trading floor and involuntarily becomes interested in other medications that he needed before (but there was no way to purchase them) or those that he will buy today or in the future.
Zoning of the pharmaceutical calculation
Traditionally, the display of goods in a pharmacy is made taking into account zoning, which makes the search for medicines as easy as possible. The following zones are allocated in almost every pharmacy kiosk:
- Over-the-counter products. These are quite voluminous calculations, in which the drugs are placed by their areas of application.
- A separate place is given for medicinal plants and dietary supplements, a variety of homeopathic medicines.
- Many vitamin complexes, products for diabetics and people seeking to lose weight are in a separate area. Also here you can find a variety of drug modifications for people leading a healthy lifestyle.
- Various variations of natural and decorative cosmetics (from toothpastes and creams to lipsticks and pads).
- Medical equipment and patient care products, orthopedic goods and compression jerseys.
- Products for young children, newborns, their mothers and pregnant women. Specialized cosmetics, baby food and various devices for the development of the child are laid out on shelves.
- In certain zones, drugs are usually allocated that contribute to increased efficiency and the prevention of stress on the human body. The windows show medicines against motion sickness, which strengthen vision and protect against the harmful effects of technical equipment in the workplace.
- In the cash zone there are special offers, advertised products and seasonal equipment, as well as printed materials dedicated to the problems of maintaining and restoring health.
Adequate visualization of the drugs presented provides for their location not lower than 0.8 m from the floor, but not higher than 1.6-1.7 m, i.e. not higher than the head of an average person.
The highest sign of the effectiveness of a sales policy that takes into account all the rules for displaying goods is an increase in sales volumes, as well as a reduction in time spent by customers finding products. A competent marketing marketing strategy not only facilitates the buying process, reducing the time it takes to find the right product, but also draws too much attention to not the most necessary things.