Retailers and suppliers who choose to outsource the planogram generation function altogether often believe that it is not enough to have space planning consultants visit their offices now and then to give and receive updates.
The planogram outsourcing trend is that to perform at optimal levels and produce the best results, the space planner needs direct, daily contact with their departmental team.
The best solution is to have the space planner stationed at retailer or supplier offices and to be fully integrated within the respective departments for which they are creating data-driven planograms.
There are five core reasons why retailers and suppliers choose to integrate consultants in this way.
1. Fewer miscommunications
Miscommunication possibly causes the most conflict in the workplace environment. By clarifying objectives, consultants and retailers can eliminate confusion about deadlines and priorities.
With category management functions based at offices, managers are better able to make the roles of everyone within the retail chain clear enabling improved teamwork and collaboration.
2. No delays in contact time
When consultants and retailers are working within the same environment, communication becomes easier. Direct communication can be made when there is a misunderstanding or when there is a query in need of answering, resulting in more efficient problem-solving and fewer speed bumps along the way.
It is easier and quicker to verbally contact a person sitting in the same office environment as you than to have delays between emails when it comes to small queries. There is no gap for open interpretation, miscommunication, and misunderstanding with direct verbal contact, unlike with email, IM systems, and conversations over the phone.
3. Direct access to databases and information
By being directly connected to the server and databases, category management consultants can quickly get the information and data they require to complete basic work functions.
Category management consultants would normally have to manually request information from retailers, but with full integration, consultants can get the information they need directly.
4. A better understanding of the processes and goals of the retailer/supplier
By being exposed to the retailer’s environment, consultants become more aware of what the business strives to achieve, as well as a better understanding of the retailer’s vision, mission, and objectives. This improved awareness makes the consultant more motivated as they feel part of the team.
5. Rapid deployment of skills
By integrating full-time, well-trained, and experienced consultants, retailers/suppliers can rapidly deploy the software and resources required for an effective end-to-end category management solution.
Conclusion
The retail chain can be seen as an actual chain: all the links in the chain are connected. If one single link in the chain is weakened or not connected to the other links properly, it will eventually cause the chain to break, no matter how strong the rest of the links are.
Retailers should choose to fully integrate category management consultants within their environments to prevent weaknesses and breakages in the chain.
Edited by: Kyle Dorfling.
