Stage 3 - Getting the Merchandising Right
(Reading time 20mins)
Introduction
Merchandising is about how shoppers find the category (location), see and select (layout) your products in an outlet or online.
It should be natural and easy on planned shopping trips and inspire change to behaviour by highlighting innovation.
This section looks at the main shaving fixture - the permanent space dedicated to the category.
Merchandising and turnover
Shoppers buy less when they are confused or find it difficult to find what they are looking for.
Great merchandising layouts, built on shopper insight, have proven to grow sales by up to 8% across a variety of categories.
Adapt merchandising to how the shopper buys the category
When we design our layout we must be clear as to the target shopper types we want to serve and their missions.
Understanding whether the shopper has planned to visit the shaving shelf as part of their trip and how frequently they visit, will help us determine what their challenge is and how we can solve it.
Defining Merchandising Principles
Consider 3 angles when designing the plan:
1. Ten general principles:
1. Locate the category in the highest traffic area
2. Start by reflecting the PDH (Purchase Decision Hierarchy) and RAM (Range Attribute Matrix)
3. Think about the Shopper, Mission and level of planning
4. Keep it simple & use blocking
5. Allocate space according to Rate of Sale, then adjust
6. Use Hot Spot to drive interaction
7. Use the Cold Spots for high loyalty and planned trips
8. Locate key SKUs of strategic importance next to brand leader to draw shopper attention
9. Use Colour effectively to enhance blocking
10. Use supply chain solutions, such as shelf-ready packaging, to drive visibility and availability
2. Men’s and Women’s shaving specific principles:
Who are the important shoppers in the category? E.g. Targeting Experimental Male or Creatures of Habit Female shoppers in a High Street Pharmacy?
What is important to these shoppers in terms of Layout & Merchandising?
For these shoppers, which segments need special treatment and why?
For these shoppers, what are the merchandising barriers to avoid? e.g. not enough facings of the favourite product of Habitual male shoppers.
For these shoppers, what are the merchandising triggers to adopt? e.g. placement of innovations or NPD in the centre of the fixture for Experimental male shoppers.
3. Retailer Specific principles:
What are the Retailer rules on facings/stock holding per SKU?
What are the Retailer's rules on Retail Ready Packaging?
What are the Retailer's principles on position of Own Label vs Brands with traffic flow?
