The Votonya retail network manages shelf space and the calculation of goods using SpacePlanner

2020: Lasmart SpacePlanner implementation

On September 24, 2020 the Lasmart company announced implementation of Lasmart SpacePlanner in Votonya retail network.

In the conditions of the active growth of retail network sharply there was a question of management of shelf space and the calculation of goods which would allow to provide the speed of opening of shops. Usual methods of formation of the calculation, its control and the analysis in this scale required too much time and resources and did not allow to manage merchandising any more. To an implementation project of Lasmart Spaceplanner of the plano-gram were created in Excel schematically on categories, and only on several key categories were under construction with detailing to specific goods. Efficiency analysis was carried out on the basis of unloadings of tables with data from 1C and their comparison with data of the plano-gram. In this situation the company began to look towards automation of this process and to look for ready-made solutions.

The main requirements which were imposed to candidates:

• Possibility of drawing of the equipment and plano-grams;
• Integration into the nomenclature reference book of the company;
• Work with plans of shops;
• Possibility of efficiency analysis of plano-grams: indicators from square meter, the analysis on shops, categories, sku.
• Possibility of formation of automatic arrangement according to the set parameters;
• Possibility of creation of end-to-end process: from creation of the plano-gram before control of its execution in shops;
• Terms and implementation cost.

After assessment of the solutions presented at the market, a choice was made for benefit of Lasmart Spaceplanner. Except that its functionality conforms to all stated requirements, Lasmart Spaceplanner allows to build end-to-end process of work with the calculation: creation of the plano-gram – approval – application – execution control - the analysis. The block of the analysis is one of main advantages of the solution: he turns on not only key indicators of efficiency (sales per square meter, marginality, etc.), but also has the integral unit of the interactive reporting. Great advantage is that Lasmart Spaceplanner is a cloud service, does not require investments into the equipment and licenses.

Project term from the moment of the choice of the supplier before start in commercial operation was 3 months. For this term integration of service into the reference book of the nomenclature of the company, its automatic update and synchronization was configured, the retail store equipment, the reference book of shops is got. Also integration with the accounting system for automatic data loading on sales was configured, the block of the analysis is configured and reports according to specific requirements of the customer are finished. Within the project the mechanism of loading of baskets of goods according to a commodity matrix of the company and functionality of work with them in service was also finished.

For September, 2020 work with plano-grams and the calculation of goods in retail network "Votonya" is completely performed through Lasmart Spaceplanner service. Plano-grams are created only using photos and the actual sizes of goods.

Considerably the mechanism of automatic arrangement accelerates work: initial filling of the shelf is performed by means of an algorithm, and then necessary corrections are made.

Work with the analysis of the plano-gram became one more key Spaceplanner function. It includes:

• the analysis of the calculation on compliance to a season, a basket, existence of goods, the passive/active range, etc. After the first two months of work with Spaceplanner the staff of the company ceased to verify correctness with 1C as errors in arrangement were not found.
• efficiency analysis of the calculation which does not require unloadings of data from 1C any more: all performance indicators are available in reports of the Analytical module of service.

In further plans of the company expansion of use of functionality Lasmart Spaceplanner not only regarding creation of plano-grams, but also regarding control of the calculation in shops using photo reports and mobile application.

Lasmart Spaceplanner allowed us to structure work regarding development and the analysis of plano-grams and to save a significant amount of resources and time which were spent for these tasks earlier. Now we can prepare for several days detailed specifications on the equipment and the calculation for the opening shops which do not require additional adjustments and changes. Besides, the main value of Spaceplanner for us consists in its analytical opportunities. There is no more need to verify and consolidate information from the accounting system with files Excel, all data, indicators and analytics are available in one tool. It is separately possible to note that updates and new features which regularly leave if do not advance then at least correspond to our requirements and requests that shows that service develops in the direction, correct for us, - Valentina Lebedeva, the Head on merchandising and assortment management of Voton