Applicable Products: DotActiv Pro, DotActiv Enterprise
Changes Report
The Changes Report is used to compare current planograms that are in-store to the proposed or suggested planograms. There are many aspects of the planograms that are compared, including gondola attributes, facings changed/unchanged, and fact totals.
How To Generate A Changes Report
In order to create the Changes Report, you need to have your proposed planogram(s) open in the DotActiv application. Once you have opened your planogram(s), follow the steps below.
Step 1: Navigate to the ‘Reporting’ tab.
Step 2: Under the ‘Shelf Plan’ section, select ‘Changes’ to start creating the Changes Report.
Step 3: In the ‘Map Planogram For Comparison’ window there are two ways you can select the proposed planograms that you would like to use.
Method 1: Map your proposed planogram(s) to a directory on your computer. It is preferred that you name this folder ‘Proposed’.
Please note: When mapping files through the directory, it is crucial that the naming convention of the Proposed Planogram and the Current Planogram are identical. For instance, Cereals_Medium_4. The results will be skewed if the naming conventions are different: Cereals_Medium_4_Proposed and Cereals_Medium_4_Current. However, as per the instructions above, the folder in which you save the planograms can be named ‘Proposed’.
Method 2: Click on ‘All Open Planograms’ to select the proposed planograms that are currently open in your DotActiv software.
Step 4: There are also two ways that you can select the current planograms that you would like to use.
Method 1: Map your current planogram(s) to a directory on your computer. It is preferred that you name this folder ‘Current’.
Please note: When mapping files through the directory, it is crucial that the naming convention of the Proposed Planogram and the Current Planogram are identical. For instance, Cereals_Medium_4. The results will be skewed if the naming conventions are different: Cereals_Medium_4_Proposed and Cereals_Medium_4_Current. However, as per the instructions above, the folder in which you save the planograms can be named ‘Current’.
Method 2: Click on ‘Specific files’ to map your current planogram(s) manually.
Please note that your planograms’ names should be the same. If you would like to run a Changes Report to compare planograms that don’t have the same name (for example, if you would like to run a Changes Report for a proposed 4-drop planogram and a current 3-drop planogram), you should use Method 2 so that you can manually map the proposed and current planograms.
Step 5: To manually map the current planograms to the proposed planograms, after selecting ‘Specific files’, click on ‘Map each file’.
Step 6: Select the relevant proposed planogram and click ‘Set’ to choose the relevant current planogram that you would like to compare it to. Click OK.
Step 7: Select the Report Type in the dropdown menu.
Step 8: If you are happy with your selection, click OK and wait for the Changes Report to appear in another tab.
Step 9: If you have decided to compare multiple proposed planograms with multiple current planograms, you can navigate the various Changes Reports by selecting ‘Next Page’ and ‘Previous Page’ under the ‘Tools’ section.
Please note that If you would like to, you can also change the logos on the report and print or PDF the report.
How To Setup Fields To Display On A Changes Report
When creating a changes report, you have the ability to configure or edit which product and fact fields display on your report. To do so, select “Field Setup” under the Changes Report dropdown in the Reporting ribbon bar, as seen below.
By default, the product key and description are the first columns shown.
This setting can be disabled, giving users full control over which fields to show. Untick the box to disable this setting, as seen below.
Additionally, users can provide custom names for the headers on the report, typically to shorten column widths.
Once you are happy with your changes, click ‘OK’ to save. For more information on how to edit fields on a Changes Report, read this article linked here.
How To Add A Changes Report In A Custom Reporting
To insert a Changes Report in a Custom Report, you can follow the following steps.
Step 1: Create a Custom Report in the ‘Report Builder’ function. In the ‘Custom Report – Template’ properties you can create a new template or if you already have a template you can select the template you want to use and just edit the template.
Step 2: When your new or existing template opens, you can add a new page if necessary where the changes report will be inserted. On the left-hand side under ‘Objects’, you must select ‘Data Grid’. The ‘Data Grid’ feature will be selected and dragged onto the page where it needs to be inserted.
Step 3: After dropping the ‘Data Grid’ icon on the page, the ‘Custom Reporting – Grid Properties’ tab will appear. In the drop-down tab next to ‘Grid Type’, select ‘Changes Report’.
Step 4: Go to the ‘Data Source’ on the left-hand side of the properties tab. Here you will select the planogram files that you will use to create the changes report. Click on the ‘Add/Edit’ option where the files will be linked. In the ‘Custom Report – Data Source’ tab you will select ‘New’ if you do not have data sources linked already.
Step 5: When the files have been linked to your custom report, you can select which data source will be used as the ‘Current’ file and which one will be the ‘Proposed’ file.
Step 6: When you have linked your data sources, you can select ‘OK’.
Step 7: Always remember to fit your ‘Data Grid’ to all sides by right-clicking on the grid and selecting ‘Fit’ and then ‘All sides’.
Step 8: ‘Save’ your template in the top left corner.
Step 9: After saving the report that you build, you will generate the report now. On the home page of the DotActiv Software, select ‘Custom Report’ and click on ‘Generate A Custom Report’.
Step 10: In the pop-up tab, select the template you want to use, this will be the template you edited, and select ‘Open’.
Step 11: On the next pop up you will have to link the data sources that you selected for the Changes Report when building the report template. This is done by selecting the data source you want to map and selecting ‘Map/Edit’ for each data source and linking the files. When the files are linked you can select ‘Create’ at the bottom of the pop-up tab.
Step 12: Your Custom Report will open with the completed Changes Report that was generated from the two data sources that were linked.
Sustainability On A Changes Report
You can view sustainability information on your Changes Report for standard and custom reporting.
For information on the sustainability product count and the percentage of the total product count, refer to the first section of the Changes Report. As seen in the image below, here you can view the current sustainability product count and the % of total product count, versus the product counts for the proposed range.
For information on the sustainable products that were removed, refer to the second section of the Changes Report. In addition to the product information of the sustainable products that were removed, you can view the following for the current and proposed ranges:
- Capacity
- Store SOH
- Days Of Supply
- Forward Share
- Facings
- Fronts
Please log a ticket to our IT Support Team if these steps do not work for you.