Merchandising management is one of the critical business processes of any retail outlet. If lost sales and surplus sales are increasing, displays don’t match planograms, and merchandisers can’t find the right merchandise in storage or warehouses, it affects profits and customer loyalty. More often, the source of these problems lies in the approach to merchandising management.
Retail chains are implementing automated systems and applications to optimize operational processes, both at the point of sale and for the work of merchandisers and planogram specialists. Such solutions enable the creation of competent planograms, the efficient use of every square meter of shelf space, and managing customer flow, and thus influence the increase in sales and profitability of the retail chain.
100% control over products’ layout
The Leafio team has developed a mobile app to monitor planogram realization. It gets and receives data from the web version and is available for Android and iOS.
The application is easy to use: all information is displayed in one place. It could not be more convenient to receive tasks or send photo reports of planograms. All you need to have is a smartphone or tablet and access to the internet.
Among the latest updates, users could view the floor plan, which helps employees' find the necessary rack on the sales floor to change or update the display. Now there is no need to rush around the sales floor with a printed plan and look for the right shelf. All you need to do is open the mobile app and quickly find the necessary area to fill with goods.
By scanning the barcode with the mobile app, the store employee can have, update and send information about the stock, price, and balances of the SKUs. With a QR-scanner feature, the store employees find the planograms for the specific fixture easier and faster.
Having and using the Leafio mobile app, companies have the opportunity to :
- Make the process of finding the right product on the sales floor or in the warehouse more manageable and faster
- Perform control of compliance of displays with planograms
- Send real photos of the shelf to the headquarter
- Communicate with the headquarters and receive notifications of any planogram changes
- Track and update the headquarters on the number of goods on the shelves and in the warehouse, control stock levels, and inventories
The Leafio team regularly collects feedback from users and, based on requests, expands the app’s functionality.
Overview of the application functionality
There are 5 tabs available in the application menu: stores, equipment, planograms, scanner, and settings. Each of them allows the user to solve a specific task quickly.
Retail outlets
All outlets to which the central office has granted access are displayed here. By selecting the required one, the user sees a list of their tasks and the priority of their execution. The central office keeps track of the tasks' status in a log and informs about any changes in the layout. This approach simplifies communication and makes it possible to measure and analyze merchandisers’ productivity.
Equipment
Here, the user can see the amount of sales equipment installed in the store. Next to each rack, there are colored indicators that indicate the status of tasks for displaying goods in a particular place.
Planograms
Sharing data through the mobile app allows users to view the list of available planograms for the selected store. In addition, users have access to tables with the list of goods on the planogram and a table with changes. It displays which goods need to be removed, added, or moved.
As soon as the merchandiser finishes laying out the goods, he uploads the photo of their work and sends the realogram to the central office online. It saves the merchandiser a lot of time on trips to the headquarters.
Scanner
By scanning the barcode, the merchandiser can immediately see its location on the planogram and check stock availability or quantity in stock. The app also displays information about retail prices, weight and size characteristics of goods, and other data that simplifies the merchandiser’s work. If the user has editing rights, resizing and uploading product covers is easy.
The scanner allows not to waste time on searches and solves problems with out-of-stock and overstock.
Settings
You can select goods by vendor groups, covers, and other features in this tab. Changing signatures: product names, articles, and barcodes is also easy.
The Leafio mobile application is a tool that is considered the last stage of the whole business process of merchandising management. With its help, less time is spent on setting tasks and controlling the quality of displays. If there are any changes in the planograms, employees of retail outlets receive instant notifications.
