POG en el merchandising minorista: significado, ventajas y herramientas eficaces para gestionarlo

The importance of POG in merchandising is hard to overestimate. According to the Shopper Technology Institute’s report, planogram compliance increases retail profits by 8.1 %, and that's just one example of planograms' impact. A competent planogram can draw attention to key products, stimulate spontaneous purchases, and build loyalty to the retail store.

In this article, we'll examine how a well-organized space affects the store's performance, the types of POG displays, and how modern technologies facilitate planogram creation and management.

POG (plan-o-grams) is an alternative name for planograms, which indicate the placement of goods on the store shelves and other merchandising devices. Planograms can look different: from a simple diagram on paper to a digital 3D model with specified product data. The retail store team receives a ready-made POG (planogram) and ensures its implementation, providing an attractive display of all products to meet the requirements.

The planogram's purpose is to maximize sales by optimizing the placement of products on the store shelves. It is a valuable tool for efficiently using the available physical space and managing customer actions (for example, to stimulate spontaneous purchases).

Next, let's explore how planograms improve product visibility, boost sales, and improve operational processes and shopper experience.

Based on data on buying patterns, planograms ensure that high-margin specific products are prominently displayed in the exact location, and at the customer's eye level. This drives sales because shoppers are likely to notice and purchase these products. POG also helps to decide where a product will be placed on a particular set of shelves — thanks to better product positioning retailers can enhance product pairing suggestions and line customer expectations. For example, consumer packaged goods like snacks and drinks are often placed in close proximity because they boost cross-selling opportunities.

Well-organized shelf space helps shoppers find the right products faster and complete their purchases. Additionally, improving the visual appeal of retail displays generates interest and a positive mood. This creates a pleasant and seamless shopping experience, encouraging shoppers to spend more time in the store and make more purchases.

In fact, according to the report, 82 % of retailers named ‘improving customer experience’ their highest business priority for the year ahead.

The POG implementation is the best way to make more efficient use of the available space, especially in large retail chains and grocery stores with many SKUs (stock-keeping units) and product categories. An organized layout helps reduce clutter, making it easier for shoppers to navigate and find what they need. Additionally, proper space allocation minimizes stockouts and overstocking, leading to more efficient inventory management.

Modern planograms generated by software allow you to collect accurate data. This gives retailers the necessary analytics on how product placement and display work. Innovative POG helps to optimize the visual merchandising planning process in the company.

Display planograms are visual representations that clearly show how products should be positioned in certain store areas (end-of-aisle displays, displays at the entrance, and other prominent areas to attract customers' attention). Display POG is not just a scheme for conveniently placing goods; it necessarily considers signage, lighting, props, or decor factors.

Examples of display POG:

Creates displays for sales or certain promotional products to increase their visibility to shoppers and provide easy access. For example, it attractively presents a stand with discounted goods.

It displays the store's layout and product placement, taking into account the specifics of a particular season, holiday, or event. These planograms include themed product displays, decor, and signboards to increase sales during certain holidays or times of the year. For example, an attractively presented themed Christmas display near the cash register.

Optimizes the layout of specific sections or store locations, such as island displays. This helps to increase sales in small, highly visible areas of the store.

Creating an efficient and effective retail environment is easier with the help of POG software like LEAFIO Shelf Efficiency Planogram Software, the retail solution for planogram creation and floor plan optimization. It uses data analytics and in-store task execution to improve margins and sales and enhance customer satisfaction.

Let's see LEAFIO AI's main features for managing and tracking POG:

Innovative planogram builder generates data-driven POGs. Visual merchandisers can create it easily and use autofacing features to build those that factor in sales, turnover, ABC analysis data, etc.

Due to sophisticated AI algorithms, retailers can now generate planograms and sales floor plans based on expected customer demand. If, for example, data shows that a particular brand is projected to spike in retail sales next month, LEAFIO AI will automatically allocate more facings to that item in high-traffic, specific stores. This proactive approach ensures optimal on-shelf availability and reduces out-of-stocks when demand peaks.

LEAFIO AI's mobile merchandising app allows store employees to receive tasks from the head office in real time through visual planograms. After implementing the layout, employees can send product images as confirmation of the completed tasks so the head office receives up-to-date information about the store's condition. This guarantees that all employees and the head office are on the same page.

Convenient analytics on sales, profit, and other metrics allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of your planograms, and give you more valuable insights to make informed decisions based on data, improving your KPIs.

«We're providing many retailers with a tool beyond showing past shelf performance — it offers insights into how shelves will likely perform. This forward-looking approach opens new opportunities to boost profitability and customer satisfaction,» says Katarina Herikh, Product Manager at LEAFIO AI.

Planogram (POG) is not just a tool to arrange products — it helps to make the retail space attractive and convenient for customers, increase product visibility, and minimize stock-outs and shortages using visual merchandising, marketing, and psychology rules.

By using specialized POG software, retailers can create more effective planograms based on sales trends, consumer behavior, regional preferences, customer flow, and other metrics to improve the customer experience and increase sales in brick-and-mortar stores. Learn more about LEAFIO's planogram automation and control solutions to take your merchandising to the next level!