XPace planning functions allow products to be positioned and arranged on fixtures, individually or in groups. The selection of products to be used is initially left to the user: Items are selected individually or according to filter or grouping criteria from the products in the database, dragged onto a fixel and positioned. However, it is much more elegant, faster and more efficient to base planning on rules.
Automated shelf planning with rules
A rule describes the criteria that are to be fulfilled on a fixture, evaluates them and generates a product arrangement: rules automatically generate the correct selection, positioning and filling.
In addition, articles may not only be newly placed on product carriers, but might also be removed from the shelf, moved or modified in a meaningful way as part of shelf conversions. You can also specify rules that evaluate simple or complex conditions and implement them on the shelf; rules automatically update change requests on the shelf.
Rules: Criteria formulation and application
According to its configuration and formulation, a rule automates
- the selection of products from the database or an imported assortment
- the application of further criteria and conditions
- the sequence of order
- positioning and arranging articles on fixtures in the planogram
- removing existing items from the planogram in the form of a discontinuation
- moving or changing existing positions
Any conditions and criteria can be used and combined with each other. A rule is applied by a simple click on its symbol, or the rule icon is dragged with the mouse onto the product carrier in the planogram. All rule criteria are applied immediately and the planogram is modified.
Example: The “Rice in Shopping Cart” rule selects all articles in the “Rice” product group from the shopping cart and positions them in the planogram.
Parameterized rules
With a parameterized rule, concrete values of conditions are queried from the user before executing the rule.
Example: The “Insert merchandise category (parameterized)” rule asks the user for the desired merchandise category and then continues processing: The suitable articles are retrieved from the database and positioned appropriately in the planogram.
Assortment rules
Assortments can be loaded from an Excel table and evaluated within the scope of a rule. The articles in the assortment are selected in the database, inserted in the planogram and distributed to several fixtures.
Example: An assortment with several product groups is prepared by the user with Excel. A rule loads the assortment and distributes all products precisely to product groups on shelves and pegboards.
Example: An assortment prepared in Excel shall remove certain products from the planogram and replace them with other products.
Benefits
Benefits for users within the scope of the space management strategy:
- A high degree of automation and efficiency in planogramming
- Quick planning and quick shelf conversions
- The consistency of category rules is reliably maintained in the planogram