Merchandising is a set of activities aimed at increasing sales of goods in retail locations. Merchandising includes assortment analysis, pricing, product placement on shelves, window dressing, promotional campaigns, and other actions that influence attracting and retaining customers.
Automating merchandising involves using modern technologies to optimize and simplify merchandising processes. Automated merchandising can include the following tools:
- Assortment management systems that analyze demand, competition, seasonality, and other factors influencing product selection.
- Price optimization systems that help set optimal prices considering demand, supply, margins, and other parameters.
- Planogram systems that determine the optimal placement of products on shelves based on their characteristics, popularity, interaction with other products, etc.
- Digital merchandising systems using electronic price tags, interactive displays, mobile applications, and other tools to enhance product attractiveness and provide customer information.
- Analytics and monitoring systems that collect and process data on sales, foot traffic, customer behavior, plan fulfillment, and other merchandising effectiveness metrics.
Automating merchandising offers several advantages for retail organizations:
- Increased sales and profitability through higher conversion rates, average transaction values, repeat purchases, and customer loyalty.
- Cost reduction and risk mitigation by optimizing purchases, reducing excess inventory, minimizing losses and theft, and decreasing errors and violations.
- Enhanced competitiveness and reputation by improving service quality, meeting customer needs and expectations, creating a unique retail offering, and enhancing brand image.
Automating merchandising requires not only technological solutions but also organizational changes involving new processes, rules, roles, and a cultural shift within the retail company. Successful automation of merchandising should consider business specifics, target audience, market dynamics, competitors, and selecting suitable tools, partners, and suppliers.
Automating merchandising is an investment in the future that can yield significant results with the right approach and implementation.
