Strategic planning in the DotActiv software refers to category roles, strategies, tactics, KPIs and Proposed Next Steps. This information can be added to custom reports via the table object.
Category roles, strategies, and tactics are integral components of category management, each serving specific purposes in optimizing the performance and profitability of product categories within a retail environment.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics used to measure the performance and success of various aspects related to product categories within a retail environment.
Proposed Next Steps are metrics used to document the proposed next plan for the category in the retail environment. These steps can be used as the focus for the next review process of the category.
Applicable Products: DotActiv Enterprise
Adding Category Roles, Strategies, And Tactics
Please note, before adding strategic information to a table, it is important to know how to add a table in a custom report.
To add category roles, strategies, and tactics to a table you first need to add placeholders to your table cells.
Right-click on the relevant cell and click ‘Edit’. The ‘Edit Cell’ window will appear. Click on the ‘Data Placeholder’ drop-down to select a placeholder from the following options:
- Category Description
- Category Role
- Strategy
- Strategy Description
- Strategy Tactic
Click ‘OK’. Your selection should appear in the relevant cell between square brackets.
Repeat this until you have selected the placeholders of your choice.
Then, save and run your report otherwise you won’t be able to continue.
After you’ve run your report, click on ‘Strategic Planning’. A window will appear with options to drill down into the category roles, strategies, and KPIs.
To add a category role, simply click and drag the chosen role onto the table.
Next, click and drag the chosen strategy. Please note that certain strategies are only applicable to certain category roles. Should a strategy not be applicable to the chosen category role you will receive this error message: Invalid Strategy Selection.
Once you have selected a strategy, if you have a tactics placeholder, this should auto-populate.
Adding KPIs
To add KPIs to your table, open the table properties by right-clicking on the object and tick ‘Include KPIs’.
The following should appear in your table in report builder mode:
- KPI
- Name
- Description
- Target
Then, save and run your report otherwise you won’t be able to continue.
After you have saved and run your report, click on ‘Strategic Planning’. A window will open on the right.
Click on ‘KPIs’ and then click on the type of KPIs you would like to see, whether that is assortment, planogram, or cluster-specific KPIs.
To add a KPI, simply click and drag the chosen KPI onto the table and the information will auto-populate.
Setting KPI Targets
To set a KPI target, in your run report, click on the relevant KPIs cell in the ‘Target’ column. Then, manually input the target.
If the steps listed above do not work for you, please log a support ticket for our IT Support team who is always willing to assist.
Adding Next Steps
Similar to the KPIs, this corresponds directly to a set of information in the Strategic Planning bar. You can drag and drop these points one by one from the “Strategic Planning” section onto a table in your report.
To populate the table, navigate to the Tools Tab, the View Section and then use the Strategic Planning feature to select the Proposed Next Steps drop-down option. Choose from the pre-set list of options to drag and drop the item onto the table and have it automatically populate the description. You can hover over the Proposed Next Step to see the description before using it. If you want to remove a Proposed Next Step, right-click on the item and select Remove.
Also, note that you can opt to have 0 actual rows of information on the table so that if you wish, the table can only consist of the KPI or next steps section without any obligatory other information above it in the table.