Automated Planograms Creation and Execution for Marché Leo's

Marché Leo's, a rapidly growing food and grocery chain in Canada, carries approximately 10,000 SKUs across various categories, including grocery, beverage, ready-to-eat meals, household items, health and beauty products, and more. 

With plans to expand the chain by nearly double over the next year, Marché Leo's needed to innovate and automate its merchandising processes to scale efficiently and maintain exceptional service at every store. 

To achieve this, Marché Leo's management chose LEAFIO AI, a leader in retail automation, and its Shelf Efficiency solution, which has a proven track record of highly efficient planogram management.

Prior to implementation, Marché Leo's faced challenges with streamlining workflows and optimizing their systems. The company’s previous setup often led to delays and inconsistencies, impacting operational efficiency and overall customer satisfaction. 

The specific challenges included:

• Lack of critical resources: staff, system knowledge, and time
• Non-standardized merchandising processes
• Two weeks were required to stock shelves before new store openings
• Need for a universal and capable tool for communication between the central office and employees
• Difficulty defining the assortment for new stores
• Challenges understanding how many SKUs could be placed on shelves and where

The project's primary goal was to create planograms for a new store, helping to define the assortment and optimize shelf space. Marché Leo's had maintained a stable number of stores for some time, but with one new location opened and two more on the way, the company plans to nearly double its footprint within the year. Achieving this growth would be significantly more challenging without automation.

The project’s specific objectives included:

• Enhancing the customer experience by creating a visually appealing shopping environment that simplifies product discovery.
• Automatically creating and quickly implementing effective planograms.
• Tracking and monitoring planogram execution to ensure consistent layout and presentation across all locations.
• Accelerating preparation for new store openings by efficiently planning macro- and micro-space.
• Achieving cost savings through effective merchandise display management, reducing labor costs, and minimizing waste.

The project was implemented in several stages according to the LEAFIO AI methodology.

Stage 1: Integration of LEAFIO Shelf Efficiency with the ERP system and data import from the national product characteristic catalog for prompt automatic planogram generation.

Stage 2: Soft launch of LEAFIO AI software on a limited number of SKUs.

Stage 3: Scaling the system for a defined range of locations and SKUs.

Stage 4: The client is transferred to the Customer Success Team for further assistance and the most profitable utilization of the system.

“The implementation process was smooth and efficient, with excellent support from LEAFIO’s team at every stage. Communication was clear, and we felt well-guided through each step. Overall, the experience has been positive, and we appreciate the professionalism and responsiveness displayed throughout,” said Neil Randhawa, Director of Purchasing at Marché Leo's.

Focusing on planogram creation and execution, the project yielded the following outcomes:

• Automated planogram creation: The implementation established a data-based process for creating automated planograms.
• Improved planogram execution: The system enhanced planogram execution with the help of the LEAFIO AI mobile application for store employees.
• Organized assortment management: More organized assortment management makes it easier to define and arrange the assortment for new stores.
• Efficient new store openings: The retailer successfully opened a new store in Toronto using the solution, with plans to open more locations faster and more efficiently.
• Digitized planograms: All planograms for shelf-stable products were digitized with LEAFIO Shelf Efficiency.

“Since the implementation, we have seen significant improvements in workflow efficiency, accuracy, and response times. The new system has enabled us to provide a more seamless experience for both our teams. We are already seeing positive results, and the impact on our operations has been transformative,” adds Neil Randhawa.

LEAFIO AI and Marché Leo's partnership continues flourishing, with the client being handed over to the Customer Success Department. This team aims to provide technical support and assist in the most beneficial and effective system utilization. 

The customer expressed interest in strengthening the partnership through additional training on the mobile application. They also highlighted the value of having a dedicated contact for technical support, which would enhance efficiency and ensure smoother workflows.

All planograms for new stores will now be created using the LEAFIO Shelf Efficiency system. The mobile application will allow Marché Leo's to easily control their execution, which is extremely important for a growing chain.