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Retail Marketing Blog - Retail News, Trends, Store Tips, and More by Shopify

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Effective use of physical space is fundamental to any brick-and-mortar retailer's success. After all, you pay for the space, products occupy your space, and customers enter and navigate your space before - ideally - making a purchase.

But planning out how you'll use your retail space isn't always easy. From determining how to plan the footpath for customers to which product displays go where, it can be a crapshoot if you don't have a plan in place.

That's where planograms come into play. Planograms help retailers plan the use of their space and gather data to help them make smarter visual merchandising choices that drive in-store sales.

What Is a Planogram?

A planogram is a visual merchandising tool. Planograms are detailed drawings of your store layout with special attention on product placement. Merriam-Webster defines it as such: "a schematic drawing or plan for displaying merchandise in a store so as to maximize sales."

In addition to being a visual representation of your store's aisles, displays, and point-of-sale, for example, a planogram will show you exactly where specific products are placed. The information in a planogram is thorough; it'll demonstrate the exact shelf an item is kept.

Other terms and abbreviations for a planogram include:

A planogram is usually a single component to more comprehensive visual merchandising documentation. It is by no means the end-all, be-all solution to your visual merchandising needs.

They're especially useful for big-box retailers or grocery stores that carry many products (and product categories) from a multitude of suppliers and have a lot of space to fill. Think about it this way: Grocery stores have to know whether a product will fit on a certain set of shelves, which is where the level of detail included in a planogram is crucial.

As such, planograms vary depending on the retailer. In the example we just described, you're likely looking at a detailed planogram. For a smaller store with fewer products and displays, the planogram may not be as comprehensive.

The Benefits of Planograms

There are many benefits to using planograms for planning out your store layout, and they generally fall under two overarching advantages: maximizing sales and space.

Maximize Sales

When you use a planogram in your visual merchandising planning process, you're able to collect data about how products and displays work. Mapping it out to the exact location on the shelf is like taking a magnifying glass to your data, and that's how you can glean really actionable insights to optimize product placement for in-store sales.

Over time, you'll learn how product placement impacts purchase behavior and can thus deduce strategies to capitalize on sales opportunities. Look at historical sales data and compare that to your planogram to see which products sold most and where they were located, and do the same for slow-moving merchandise. Place those items together to increase sales of stock that's getting old or stale.

You'll also be able to identify the highest-converting locations in your store, so you can put merchandise there that you want to prioritize.

FURTHER READING: Use your store's hot spots to strategically sell your products. Learn how to optimize your power wall to spike sales.

Planograms also allow for strategic product placement from a cross-merchandising standpoint. Notice how the milk and bread are in the far back corner of the grocery store? That's because those retailers want to make customers walk past other items, which can help increase impulse purchases.

With a planogram, it's easier to map out these routes. If there's an item that customers regularly come back to purchase from your store, consider placing it somewhere that forces them to pass other items that you want to sell, or placing complementary products nearby. For grocers, for example, this could be peanut butter and jelly.

Maximize Space

Retail space is expensive. And while the exact costs vary depending on a variety of factors (location, size, lease term, etc.), property management company Hartman says your gross-to-rent percentage could be anywhere between 1% and 13%.

Regardless of your rental expenses, maximizing the use of that space can help you run a lean, cost-effective business. Planograms help you stay organized and allocate a purpose to every area in your store.

Plus, planograms support more effective inventory management. More organization means it's easier for staff to stay on top of stock levels since there's a place for everything, and everything should be in its place.

And if you're working with wholesale, vendors, and other third parties, have a guideline as to what and how much space they're responsible for. This kind of setup can create ownership and accountability.

How to Use a Planogram for Your Store

While proper planograms are extremely detailed and robust, they can be valuable to many kinds of retailers. Even if you're not using a "proper" planogram, you can use the philosophies and strategies behind them to help in planning your store layout and product displays.

If you do decide that a planogram is the way to go, there are a few options:

Hire a Planogrammer

Technically speaking, there are roles out there in the retail world called "planogrammer." And you can expect to pay that person $47k in an annual salary in the U.S.

If your business isn't big enough to hire someone completely dedicated to planograms, this is also a responsibility that you can allocate to a visual merchandiser.

Consult with Planogram Experts

Don't have enough of a need to warrant a dedicated internal role? You can also hire third-party experts and leverage their skills to execute your planogram. Envirosell is one such company that specializes in using behavioral research to assist in visual merchandising, and Retail Smart is a U.K.-based company that provides both consulting and software, which brings us to the next option:

Use Planogram Software

There are tons of planogram software options on the market; it all really depends on your unique needs and, of course, your budget. DotActiv has free planogram software that you can get started with, and there are also paid options with more features. Here are just a few:

DIY Your Planogram

You can also use planogram templates to take a DIY approach to your visual merchandising. Some retailers go the old school route, with a paper and pencil, and draw out the space to scale. If you're savvy enough, you can also do this with tools in Google Docs. Generally, you'll want to use a pre-existing template or create one in a tool that's more suited for visuals, such as Photoshop.

DoActiv has a template that you can download, and SmartDraw has several examples that you can use as a starting point for your own planogram.

Moving Forward With Your Planogram

Have you considered using a planogram as part of your approach to visual merchandising? In what ways have you benefited from strategic store layout planning and product placement?

About the Author

Alexandra Sheehan is a freelance writer/editor and content specialist. She's worked with retailers ranging from Fortune 100 companies to Etsy shop owners, and is always looking for innovative ways to help her clients.

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Planograms: What They Are and How They're Used in Visual Merchandising

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Effective use of physical space is fundamental to any brick-and-mortar retailer's success. After all, you pay for the space, products occupy your space, and customers enter and navigate your space before - ideally - making a purchase.But planning out how you'll use your retail space isn't always easy.

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A planogram is a diagram that shows how and where specific retail products should be placed on retail shelves or displays in order to increase customer purchases.

Planogramming is a skill used in merchandising and retail space planning. A person with this skill is be referred to as a planogrammer. Planograms themselves are also referred to as POGs.

By analyzing past and current sales patterns, a planogrammer can make successful recommendations about the number of "facings" a certain product should have on a retail display. The diagram will document how high or low on a shelf the product should display, as well as which products should surround it. The resulting planogram is printed out as a visual to be followed by the part-time help that is often hired to restock retail shelves and displays. This gives executive management of a retail store or chain more control over how products are displayed and allows them to track and improve on the success of their planograms.

Planogram components are often included in large space planning and retail space management software applications. Sophisticated applications use other information about the product, such as the amount of inventory left for the product, to build the diagram.

See also: supply chain planning (SCP), logistics management, supply chain visibility (SCV), kanban, entity relationship diagram
Dig deeper
If you look at the retail landscape as a whole, 60% of retailers are using internally developed applications.

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What is planogram? - Definition from WhatIs.com

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A planogram is a diagram that shows how and where specific retail products should be placed on retail shelves or displays in order to increase customer purchases. Planogramming is a skill used in merchandising and retail space planning. A person with this skill is be referred to as a planogrammer.

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Category Management Training:  Planograms Are Not Just Pretty Pictures

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Jonathan James - Why planograms are important

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Retail Shelf Planner - How to build and analyze a planogram

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Planogram Services - ToolBox's Superior Merchandising Service

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Visual Merchandising, Retail Store Windows

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Fashion retail industry news, trends and analysis | Drapers

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Read the latest fashion retail breaking news, trends, analysis and international catwalk coverage from Drapers Online

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Morgan, Cameron, Amy, Niamh, Aaron, Beau

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Morgan, Cameron, Amy, Niamh, Aaron, Beau

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Visual Merchandising, Using Space + Psychological Techniques

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For 30.2 Space & Psychological Techniques

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For 30.2 Space & Psychological Techniques

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Display Design Services & Solutions - Luminati

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We are passionate about what we do. As members of ACID our clients can be sure that the designs we produce for them are 100% original. Find out more here.

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What does a visual merchandiser do?

Visual merchandisers use their design skills to help promote the image, products and services of retail businesses and other organisations. They create eye-catching product displays and store layouts and design to attract customers and encourage them to buy.

In a large retail company, you would work as part of a display team, following design plans created at head office by a visual merchandising manager or senior display designer. Your role may sometimes overlap with that of a display designer, who designs things like display stands, stock containers and sales posters.

Depending on your responsibilities, your day-to-day work might include:

producing design ideas for displays and developing floor plans, or following a company plan

creating special displays to promote a specific product or offer

drawing designs and plans by hand or computer

deciding how to use space and lighting creatively

making best use of a store's space and layout

creating branded visual merchandising packs to send to each branch of a store

giving feedback to head office and buying teams

setting up displays, dressing dummies and arranging screens, fabric and posters

sourcing display materials and hiring, borrowing or making props

teaching sales staff how goods should be displayed

taking down old displays

Senior visual merchandisers are usually responsible for planning the store display for the year, creating visual plans and buying the appropriate models, props, equipment and signage.

Head office visual merchandiser coordinators often prepare a visual merchandising pack to send to other stores, so that all stores have the same company look and feel.

What do I need to do to become a visual merchandiser?

You normally become a visual merchandiser or display designer in one of two ways:

completing a retail design qualification at college while looking for work

moving from an in-store sales assistant role to a trainee visual merchandiser post

Whether you take a college course beforehand or do on-the-job training, there are various certificates and diplomas you could study. You may be able to get into this career if you have more general art and design qualifications, and can show a flair and enthusiasm for retail.

You may also be able to start in this role through an apprenticeship.

Where could I be working?

You could be based at head office or at a store. If you work for a chain store, you might travel to different branches to set up displays and give instructions to sales staff.

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What does a visual merchandiser do? Visual merchandisers use their design skills to help promote the image, products and services of retail businesses and other organisations. They create eye-catching product displays and store layouts and design to attract customers and encourage them to buy.

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Visual merchandisers use their creativity and awareness of trends to develop, deliver and communicate visual concepts and strategies to promote retail brands

As a visual merchandiser, you'll promote retail brands, products and services in-store, in catalogues or online. You may also work with museums and galleries or create visual concepts for events. Keeping up with and predicting future trends will be an important part of your work.

If you work from a head office, you'll most likely collaborate with other departments to create annual visual strategies and promotional events in order to attract and entertain the target market. It's also possible to work in a freelance or consultancy basis, creating visual concepts for clients or delivering training to retail teams.
Types of merchandising

visual merchandising is concerned with a creative and visual impact

retail merchandising (or shop-floor merchandising) is different from visual merchandising in that the focus is the volume, allocation, location and functional arrangement of stock on the shop floor.

There are, however, interfaces between the roles and teams may work closely together to achieve maximum sales and profitability.

Responsibilities

As a visual merchandiser, you'll need to:

liaise with teams about buying, design and marketing to create design themes and plans, often months in advance, including window and in-store displays, signage and pricing concepts

conduct research on current and future trends in design and lifestyle, and associated target market features

meet with business, sales managers and retail managers to discuss sales strategies

identify and source props, fabrics, hardware and lighting

maintain a budget and negotiate with suppliers of visual materials

work with architectural features of stores to maximise the available space

use artistic skills or computer-aided design (CAD) packages, such as AutoCAD, Mockshop or Adobe Creative Suite, to create visuals and plans

create visual merchandising packs to communicate visual guidelines including layout principles, visual dressings and signage - usually applies to those based in a head office

visit branches and train sales teams in-store visual merchandising techniques and concepts

assemble or dismantle visual displays in windows or in-store

carry out 'comp (comparison) shops' to maintain awareness of other retailers' visual merchandising concepts

lead and motivate teams to complete displays to tight deadlines

seek feedback from colleagues and customers on the visual impact of displays and of the changes implemented.

Salary

Assistant visual merchandiser salaries will typically start between £12,000 and £18,000, depending on experience and in-store or field function.

Experienced or management roles can attract starting salaries of £20,000 to £27,000 with senior levels starting at around £30,000. Those working at director or international levels can earn between £45,000 and £60,000 per annum.

Some field or regional roles may attract benefits such as a company car, fuel allowance and mobile phone.

Income figures are intended as a guide only.

Working hours

Working hours are typically 35 to 40 hours across the whole week. Early morning starts or late night finishes are common, as work must generally take place before businesses open for trade. If conducting a complete store redesign, overtime or overnight work may be required.

Many roles are full time, but part-time hours may be available.

What to expect

As well as in-store or field visual merchandising teams, most major retailers will have visual merchandising teams based at their head office working on visual concepts for retail shops and/or catalogues and websites. Head office visual merchandising designers may visit stores out in the field to convey their design ideas to in-store visual merchandising teams and to ensure the concepts fit with the physical environment of the store.

Freelance or consultancy work is common, with freelance visual merchandisers working with a client base of smaller or independent retailers to create displays or train staff. There may also be opportunities within specialist visual merchandising installation and prop-making companies, to which large organisations often outsource projects.

Depending on the employer, the role may be multifunctional, with responsibility for store layout, design, or buying, and sometimes on a lower level, selling.

Good levels of stamina and manual dexterity are useful as the job can involve lots of lifting and carrying, climbing ladders and the use of power tools.

There may be opportunities for overseas travel with international chains, to ensure consistency in the brand.

Kick-start your career in fashion

Study an industry-focused postgraduate degree

Qualifications

A degree is not essential for this role, but some higher education institutions offer specific courses, including:

fashion buying and merchandising at the London College of Fashion

fashion, visual merchandising and branding at the University of Arts London

fashion styling and visual merchandising at Istituto Marangoni London

Other useful degree subjects include:

fashion design

fine art

interior design

surface pattern design

textiles

3D design.

Some further education colleges offer relevant courses, including Hugh Baird College which runs a course in visual merchandising and promotional design.

Some major retailers do have graduate schemes for visual merchandising, but these are not very common. Many higher-level visual merchandisers gain experience by working their way up from the shop floor.

Postgraduate qualifications are not essential, but there are a number of professional training courses available.

Entry with an HND or A-levels is possible with art, fashion or design-based courses being useful. Starting as an assistant on the shop floor is a common way to enter this career.

It may be possible to find an apprenticeship in visual merchandising. Such as those offered by the Fashion Retail Academy.

Skills

You will need to have:

a talent for design, colour and style

creative flair and imagination

a strong interest in current and future design trends

visual/spatial awareness and manual dexterity

effective communication and negotiation skills

the ability to work well with different teams

the capacity to work with constructive criticism

a driving licence - this may be required for driving to different stores.

Work experience

Gaining work experience in the retail sector can be helpful and especially if it involves creating displays and arranging products.

If you have no visual merchandising experience you may find it easier to step into this role by working as a retail sales assistant role first and getting involved in visual merchandising on the shop floor.

Employers

The majority of visual merchandising personnel are employed in retail stores.

The retail industry employs around three million people, which equates to 11% of the total UK workforce. By sector, it is the UK's largest private employer.

The types of employers most likely to recruit visual merchandisers include:

fashion retailers

department stores

multiple high-street chain stores

larger independent high-street retailers

mail order companies

internet shopping providers.

Museums, galleries and theme parks tend to outsource their visual merchandising requirements but may employ some entry-level visual merchandising staff.

Higher-level visual merchandisers tend to work in head offices, many of which are based in London and the South East or in other large cities. Senior-level visual merchandisers can also be field-based, working in stores across a particular region or based within stores themselves.

Employers appreciate candidates who have a strong portfolio of relevant work that displays their abilities and potential.

Look for job vacancies at:

You can also check retail company websites for job openings.

Fashion and retail recruitment agencies frequently handle visual merchandising vacancies, for example:

Professional development

A wide variety of training is available, which is suitable both for preparing for entry to this career and for further developing your skills and knowledge.

The London College of Fashion provides a mixture of undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses, as well as short courses and online short courses.

The Fashion Retail Academy offers a number of different courses, from degrees and diplomas to short courses and apprenticeships.

Some further education colleges offer practical courses that focus on retail display and visual merchandising. These include Hugh Baird College and Hertford Regional College.

Many retailers have their own in-house training in brand styles and design, available to employees for continuing professional development (CPD).

It's also possible to source training through a consultant visual merchandiser. Details of these can be found online.

Professional associations, such as The British Display Society (BDS) offer professional membership and a range of training courses.

The Association for Cultural Enterprises (ACE) promotes 'commercial best practice in the cultural, heritage and visitor attraction sector by providing training and networking opportunities.' The organisation also runs study days and masterclasses in visual merchandising.

Career prospects

Visual merchandisers who have started on the shop floor and gained experience may be able to progress to the position of a team or an area team leader or manager.

Those seeking to work at higher levels may need to have drawing skills, with desirable computer-aided design (CAD) skills. The ability to communicate ideas and convey complex information in a way that can be easily understood is vital. Planning and organisation skills with the ability to lead projects from design through to completion within tight deadlines are also essential.

Promotion to head office creative and visual merchandising teams may be a possibility. Head office career structures will vary from employer to employer but could include senior, director or international roles if the company is multinational.

Seeking professional status through BDS membership levels could enhance your career development.

With enough experience, you could choose to become self-employed and either work in a freelance capacity or work in a training or consultancy capacity with other retailers. It may also be possible to find freelance project work within the events or cultural sectors.

Another possibility is to transfer your talents to other connected areas, such as styling, prop-making, interior design, exhibition design and work within the television and film industry.

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Visual merchandisers use their creativity and awareness of trends to develop, deliver and communicate visual concepts and strategies to promote retail brands As a visual merchandiser, you'll promote retail brands, products and services in-store, in catalogues or online. You may also work with museums and galleries or create visual concepts for events.

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Whilst retail design sets the stage, visual merchandising is the key to engaging the customer with great product. It's an art and science that combines ergonomics, lighting, spatial awareness and styling to inspire product handling and upselling.

From window displays to in-store set-ups, here's our edit of 50 best-in-class examples (in no particular order) of the power of visual merchandising to enhance a range. We've nominated our retail stores for their innovation, inspiration, storytelling and customer experience.

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50 best uses of visual merchandising in retail - Insider Trends

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Whilst retail design sets the stage, visual merchandising is the key to engaging the customer with great product. It's an art and science that combines ergonomics, lighting, spatial awareness and styling to inspire product handling and upselling.

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Matty

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Aaron F

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When supermarkets first opened in the UK people were afraid to pick up items and put them in their trolley for fear of being told off. Now we have the opposite problem; we can't stop ourselves from picking stuff up.

The average UK shopper makes 221 trips to the supermarket every year, giving us ample opportunity to buy food we don't need, but why do we do this?

To understand, you must step into the meticulously managed marketing zone that is a supermarket, where millions have been invested into figuring out how to get you to buy more.

Click or tap on the picture to find out how the layout of a supermarket can encourage you to buy more.

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We all love a bargain, our brains even experience pleasure at the prospect of a bargain. Data from Kantar Wordpanel suggests that 40% of groceries in the UK are sold on promotion, but are consumers really getting a good deal?

Paying £4 for two cakes priced at £2 individually is not a a bargain, it's just arithmetic. But if the individual price of the cake was increased to £3 before a multi-buy promotion the £4 price would seem like a sweet deal.

Supermarkets sometimes show some products in kilograms and others in grams, making it difficult to compare prices.

Most consumers only know the price of about 20 essential items, which are referred to as 'known value items'. These items are often sold at a loss. Often other items have high mark ups. See if you know the prices of the items in the section below.

Do supermarkets manipulate our senses to get us to buy more? Click or tap on the picture to find out.

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Prepare yourself for your next trip to the supermarket with our tips and tricks to help make sure you only buy what you actually need.

If you are just going to the supermarket for a few essentials then you definitely do not need a trolley. Studies show that the bigger the trolley you use the more you buy. Try using a basket if you only need a few items or just your hands, you are less likely to buy that five kilo bag of rice that's on offer if you have to carry it.

A study from Cornell University showed that to make your trolley healthier you should divide it in two with a scarf or jacket and use one half for fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat. This trick causes people to spend more than twice as much of their budget on fruits and vegetables. The idea is that the partition suggests a social norm that individuals try to meet. Here are five more tips and tricks for spending less in the supermarket:

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How do supermarkets tempt you to spend more money?

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Do you often buy more food than you need? Find out how supermarkets are meticulously managed to tempt you to spend more money.

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The Art of Merchandising - Mary Queen of Shops