XPace is a space management system for retailers and their suppliers, especially in the non-food, media, DIY and healthcare sectors. We have developed XPace to make space management strategies attractive even for complex POS designs.
space management
Layout
In Space Management, the assembly of a shelf is set up and documented as a planogram. All fixtures and all products, together with their concrete positions and properties, are combined in a planogram layout.
Optimizing
Any shelf planning should meet the manufacturer’s and retailer’s sales and earnings expectations, be aligned with consumer demand and maintain appropriate inventory levels. The planning is not static, but is regularly revised for new requirements and performance indicators.
Documentation
Shelf planning and conversion results are displayed as planogram graphics, provided as reports or exported in standard formats.
Deployment
Space planning data has the best effect if it is communicated to all involved participants in retail logistics in an up-to-date and convincing manner: Category management, furnishing planning, sales logistics, furnishers, field service, trade partners, branches, franchisers, customers – they all use these data in their own, specific way.
Features
Retail Space Management is the planning and optimization of the sales area of shelves. Starting from an empty shelf, products are selected and positioned on the shelf. The populated shelf is documented and analysed, resulting in a graphical planogram with parts lists. XPace provides all functions and interfaces to organize the planning, evaluation and optimization of sales areas in the market.
Implementation
Successful implementation of space management in your company means installing XPace shelf planning software on your own PCs and providing the data for products and fixtures. Data from external systems and sources is reused via interfaces. The implementation may be carried out on local and mobile computers as well as been controlled by a central server.
Methods
In a planogramming project, certain steps are taken to create a qualified shelf plan that best meets the objectives of the project. XPace follows the 4Q strategy with four questions: What – How much – Where – Why and implements the planogramming functions in its methodology.
Motivation
Space Management aims to provide the right products in the right quantity at the right place on a limited sales area. The motivation behind: A shelf allocation at the point-of-sale only works well if it is very well planned and justified and revised regularly.
Modules
With XPace planogramming, each product will be positioned at the point-of-sale following logistical, financial, geometric, visual, and psychological aspects, taking space and time into account. XPace modules cover the various requirements of space management and planogramming.
XPace is available in the following modules
The modules differ due to the features provided:
| Basic | Professional | Enterprise | |
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| Rack design: Create racks and shops, place and arrange products, basic reporting |
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| Rack optimization: Benchmarks, analyses, optimization, and extended reporting |
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| Deployment: Enterprise Server with web publishing and presentation |
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The feature overview outlines the references between main feature scopes and the XPace modules. You can upgrade to a more feature-rich package at any time.
Additional packages extend the functionality:
- XPace Mockup: Designing your own product displays
- XPace Queries: Queries for Assortment Planning
- XPace Kiosk: Kiosk systems and information terminals
- XPace Locate: Localization data for article searches in the market
- XPace Scripting: Automation through macros and rules
- XPace Metadata: Metadata management and release procedures
- XPace Elastics: Elastic deformation under weight load
- XPace Mandator: Multi-client capability
- and more…
Platforms
XPace runs on the following platforms and systems:
- Windows 32 bit
- Windows 64 bit
- Mac OS X 64bit
Data sources and file formats are identical and fully compatible for all modules and packages. XPace provides space management for heterogeneous environments.
Data Sources for Import and Export
Shelf planning is based on information that already exists elsewhere in the company: Data about products, fixtures, markets and shelves. In XPace Space Management, these informations meet to build concrete rack allocation plans. Graphic planograms and assembly lists are the basis for shelf construction in the real world. They are also used for documentation and communication and for the permanent development of the point-of-sale over time.
The data from shelf planning result in communication processes that provide the internal and external addressees of shelf planning with the necessary information. On the one hand, communication can take place in the classical way (sending e-mails of PDF reports or Excel tables), but today, actual planograming data should also be provided online on a server.
Other topics:
Use Cases • Features • Space Management Foundations