This article will help you to understand the importance of clustering for creating planograms and floor plans using the DotActiv software.
Applicable Products: DotActiv Enterprise
How Clustering Impacts Planograms
Category-based Clustering is used to guide the assortment planning process. Cluster-specific ranges are placed onto planograms and later, floor plans to assist retailers with space optimisation.
By identifying your clusters per product category, you can select the right products for your assortment due to the in-depth understanding of the target market.
The process of creating planograms is optimised as store-specific planograms, do not need to be created and products favoured by the target market can be given more space and eye level facings.
Space allocation is, therefore, based on consumer demand and concrete sales data rather than subjective guesses.
To create cluster-specific planograms, cluster maintenance must first be used to set up your cluster plan. Range maintenance can then be used to implement the assortment changes on the clustered planograms as seen in the gif below.
How Clustering Impacts Floor Planning
The floor plans created using the DotActiv software are directly influenced by your planograms which are created using the product assortment of the category. Therefore, category-based clustering has a direct influence on the floorplanning process.
Once your clusters have been created using the Cluster Maintenance feature, the applicable planograms can be linked to the floor plan using the Key Market Field (Store Code).
A cluster plan must first be created to have a floor plan that is linked to the product assortment and planograms for the store. This process facilitates sales data analysis for you to make strategic changes to the product assortment, planograms and floor plan.
To create a floor plan, click on the ‘Space Planning’ tab and select ‘New Floor Plan’.
Next, select properties and input the store code that you are working with to ensure that your planograms are linked to the specific store branch as seen in the gif below.
Next, select ‘Add Goldolas’ under the ‘Grouping’ tab so that your planograms are added to the floor plan according to the retailer hierarchy and category flows selected.
A drop-down window will appear allowing you to choose from two options, as seen in image below.
The first option is ‘Clustered Gondolas’. If you select this option, it will only display the clustered gondolas for your Merchandise Group or Department in your Database.
After you have clicked on ‘Clustered Gondolas’, a new window will appear, as seen in gif below.
If you select ‘All Gondolas’, the window displayed in the gif below will appear.
Please check that the naming convention used for your planograms is the same for your cluster plan in the format of Category_Format_NOD.
This is to ensure that the planograms linked to your database can be easily imported onto your floor plan with the sales data correctly linked.
Once you have clicked ‘Add Gondolas’, you can select the Merchandise Group, Category, Sub-category etc, that you would like to work with.
You then need to check that the other groups do not contain the same categories by deselecting these under each group tab. You can also alter the flow of your categories by clicking Shift Up or Shift down to decide on the order that they will be imported onto the floor plan. Click ‘OK’when you are ready to add the gondolas to your floor plan.
Category-based clustering is a recommended activity for any retailer as this has benefits for both the assortment planning and floor planning processes.