There is no such thing as a ‘mid-year slump’ at DotActiv. As we pass the halfway mark of 2022, our developers have been hard at work and so have we with writing new articles and updating others based on new software releases on the DotActiv PowerBase. During June, we wrote six new articles and updated seven based on recent software updates.
Each updated article aims to provide quick answers to any specific questions you might have on how best to use our software for your business.
If you would like to read past articles on what we’ve added or updated on the DotActiv PowerBase, you can browse through those PowerBase summaries. You can also read about why we introduced the DotActiv PowerBase.
Tired of spending hours cleaning and classifying your data?
If you’ve worked with retail data before, you might know that cleaning data can be a time-consuming process.
As a category management business, DotActiv has identified the need to simplify and speed up this process. That is why as part of the latest DotActiv software release, we have released brand new functionality related to cleaning and classifying data in a more efficient way.
With the new ‘Screening and Classifications’ functionality, the software will screen your retail data and make predictions for you.
In this new article, we unpack how to screen and classify data in the DotActiv software.
When building a custom report template, you have the option to add multiple objects to the template. Amongst these options are images, text boxes, planograms, grids and clustering and assortment reports.
As a new feature, you now have the option to add a blank table to a report template. This allows you to specify the number of rows and columns that you’d like to use and the cells are editable once the table has been created.
Adding a table to a report template in DotActiv is easy if you follow these steps.
DotActiv is very excited to announce the release of a brand-new software edition.
The DotActiv Viewer software edition was developed with the intention of allowing users to view certain information on a database that already exists (or that has been saved) and includes multiple reporting options. This new edition has a similar look and feel to our other DotActiv editions, but with the twist of being viewer-based.
With that said, the user can open and view certain DotActiv files and generate different reports in the software using what is available on the database or existing files. For example, the user is able to open existing cluster and assortment plans and run the available reports on such plans.
Learn more about getting started with the DotActiv Viewer edition.
As mentioned above, with the DotActiv Viewer edition, the user is able to view any existing cluster plan that was saved in Cluster Optimizer as well as Cluster Maintenance. This can be done by clicking on the respective icon in the clustering tab
Alternatively, when accessing the reports linked to these plans, one can also do so through the drop-down menus of the shortcuts found on the welcome page.
Learn how to view cluster plans on DotActiv Viewer.
Did you know you can maintain sections and attributes within the DotActiv software?
By navigating to ‘File’, ‘Setup’ and clicking on ‘Maintenance’, which is found under ‘Sections and Attributes’, you can edit any existing sections and attributes as well as create and add new ones.
If you’d like to add a new attribute, you have the option to add a ‘Formula’ and with the latest release, you can now also apply text cleaning formulae to product and market dimensions. This means that you can, for example, set a ‘Product Description’ field to always be displayed in uppercase.
This new text cleaning feature will assist any user in ensuring cleanliness and consistency in their data. That is why we have written this new article in which we unpack how to maintain sections and attributes available in the DotActiv software.
When you are creating a custom report, you might want to report on certain clustering components.
As a new feature, we’ve added the ability to add a ‘Silhouette Analysis’ and ‘Linkage Distance Metrics’ to your report. Once you’ve generated the report, you can also link the relevant cluster plan to update the data on the report.
Want to link a cluster plan to your custom report? Here’s how.
Don’t know where to start with clustering and assortment planning?
Don’t worry! DotActiv has a feature that can help you get started, and it’s called the ‘Cluster and Assortment Initializer’.
It’s all in the name. The Cluster and Assortment Initializer uses a strict grouping process to create category-based clusters across various retailer branches.
When working on a specific product category, the initializer groups the stores that stock the same product range. This ensures that category-based clusters are based on factual sales data and product ranges rather than subjective knowledge.
We have recently updated this article to include the option to choose the cluster set that you would like to work with. Learn how to get started with clustering and assortment planning in the DotActiv software.
When setting up a cluster plan in Cluster Maintenance, you will be presented with the ‘Cluster Maintenance’ setup window. Here you can specify the cluster set, stores and category you’d like to work with. You can also set up your fields, filters and periods.
As a bonus, we have recently added the ability to highlight store or category combinations which have not had a cluster change within a set number of months. We have also updated this article to reflect this new feature.
Read more about how to set up, update and maintain clusters in the DotActiv software.
Once you have created a custom report, you and your colleagues can reuse the report template. The report template will be saved as a .drt file.
Custom reports which have been generated can now also be saved as a data report (.dr) file which will store the contents of any included data sources. This report file can then be opened without needing to map or pull data from the source again. With the latest release, we’ve also added the ability to view all .dr files (and not just .drt template files) in a given directory when opening a custom report.
As such, we have updated this article to include the new software update so you can now generate your report using a data report (.dr) file if you’d like to. Read this updated article to learn more about generating reports in the DotActiv software.
A custom report creates a standard report template that multiple planners can use. This ensures consistency and efficiency due to the fact that you can use the same report multiple times.
When adding a text box to a custom report, you now have the ability to set the background colour of the text box and change the edges to rounded.
We have also included the option to pin objects in place to prevent accidentally moving them while setting up templates. You can pin or unpin an object by right-clicking on it.
Read more about the Custom Report in this article.
The change category tool in the DotActiv software is especially convenient when you want to check that your naming conventions are all spelt correctly to avoid not having the entire range on a planogram when pulling in a specific category.
You can use this tool to select products in the display hierarchy and change the entire group selection to the correct naming convention.
With the recent software update, we have changed the look of the window and added the ability to see whether the fields you have selected are part of your existing structure or if it’s new. In addition, you can now also see your Master Display structure on the right-hand side of the window while changing a category.
Learn how to use the change category tool in the DotActiv software.
As mentioned above, the Custom Report in the DotActiv software allows you to create a standard report template that multiple planners can use. This article shows you how you can add a planogram to your report template.
As part of our new software update, you now have the ability to apply an image filter to planogram objects that have been added to a report. We have also updated this article to show you where to find it and how you can use it.
In this article, you can learn more about adding a planogram to your report template.
When creating a custom report, you have the option of adding a grid. Once you have chosen the data source that you would like to use for your grid, there are other grid layout options allowing you to set columns, add calculated columns, set filters and place the data in specific sort order.
We have updated this article to reflect the new software updates when setting calculated columns. You can now use hardcode numeric values as well as percentage columns which can be auto-added for selected data fields. This means that you have the option to set up percentage fields and add a set value.
You can add a grid to a custom report template in the DotActiv software by following these steps.
Conclusion
The DotActiv PowerBase provides you with quick answers to specific questions about how to make the most of DotActiv’s products and services.
If you come across an article that doesn’t answer a question to your satisfaction, please leave a comment on the article. It’s entirely anonymous and will help us to help you get the answers you deserve.
Are you currently not a DotActiv client but want to learn more about how DotActiv software can help your business increase its sales while also pleasing your customers? You can book a meeting with a DotActiv expert or browse our various software and services options on our online store here.