Blog Love: Modelizing: the art of window shopping

Here’s another new blog I’m addicted to perusing: Modelizing: the art of window shopping.  What I like about Julia Chesky’s site is that there’s very little text with lots of great photos, and as visual merchandisers we all know a picture is worth a thousand words! If she does add commentary to her posting, then it’s her honest opinion on whether she likes it or not!  She takes all the photos herself of storefronts in NYC.  Most of her shots are up close and show the details of the display.

Give yourself lots of time to browse through her site, I promise you won’t be disappointed!

(image via: Modelizing: the art of window shopping)

H+M’s floor plan

The December 2011 issue of Lucky magazine features this one page article.  I feature it here because it somewhat relates to what I posted earlier on Planograms and it also tells on some of the secrets that merchandisers use to entice shoppers.  Instead of trying to paraphrase the whole article I scanned it here:

Planograms

Planograms – learn this term!  I’ve been wanting to do a post on planograms for a long time now, but for some reason it kept slipping my mind.  I’ve been feeling incredibly guilty and foolish for not covering this topic in-depth in class.  EVERY visual merchandiser should know what planograms are and how important they are in our line of work.

Planograms are a visual tool retailers use to show in detail where everything will go.  It’s the diagram or layout of the selling floor. They can be simple or very complex.  They can be done by a hand-sketch or with a software program (the most common, nowadays).  Sometimes they are even provided to the retailer by the vendor.  They show you exactly how they want a wall, for instance, to be merchandised.  If you are a retailer who does not use planograms then make this your New Year’s resolution!

Planograms are effective because:

• You have better control of inventory
• Your staff knows where and how to replenish merchandise
• You can visually layout merchandise in a way that’s easier for the customer
• You can plan your product adjacencies
• Selling space isn’t wasted

Some retailers may already be using something of the sort and just didn’t know the technical name for it, but nonetheless all merchandisers know the importance of planograms.  Chain stores use them for consistency throughout their stores and independent stores use them to maximize their selling space.

Besides giving you the picture of how the selling space will look they also give you the details on the number of facings and the depth.  The facings are the number of units for that particular item (or SKU) and the depth is the number of units stocked one behind the other.

Planograms are the lifeblood of grocery stores and big box chain stores, and looking at all of the merchandise they stock, you can see why.  Grocery stores use planograms to optimize shelf space and control inventory:

Clothing retailers tend to focus more on presentation and visual appeal when using planograms:

There are many software programs and services out there to help you learn more and get started if your store is big enough and you choose to subcontract this service:

• Shelf Logic Planogram Software
• Retail Smart
• Smart Draw

Happy Planning!