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Visual assortment planning with vrLineplan
The aim of assortment planning is to tempt shoppers to buy more. Good assortment planning does this through the creation of balanced, well-structured
product ranges that are built for, and distributed to, the different store grades. When executed correctly compelling and balanced product assortments
in-store, tempt the consumer to purchase multiple items on impulse, because they've been shown a complete visual story - something stylish that they
appreciate and can see themselves wearing.
Pure numeric assortment planning systems simply aren't capable of consistently achieving this, as they don't provide a balance between the numeric and
aesthetic attributes of the developing range. To add to this current visual range construction is undertaken via a series of manual processes involving
'sketch and swatch' boards and range review meetings which, at best, have a mixture of samples, sketches and CAD images to visualise the collections.
The result is a totally disconnected and inefficient process that typically leads to miscommunication, overstocking of the wrong items, poorly co-ordinated
ranges, excessive markdowns and lost sales opportunities simply because the shopper isn't consistently presented with a compelling, cohesive product range
and because the buying, merchandising and retailing teams cannot 'visualise' how the product range will actually be executed in-store.
A new visual dimension
Retailing is a visually driven process and with this in mind the Visual Retailing suite of software makes assortment planning an integrated visual process.
It does this by combining visualisation with the best attributes of existing numeric planning systems. And it makes the whole process very easy to execute
consistently across a wide network of outlets.
vrLineplan provides the ability to visualise ranges across different store grades, allowing the buyers/planners to see the range by delivery week, colour,
price or any other key attribute of the products. It provides an interactive tool that allows the buyer and merchandiser to visualise and balance the
range by store grade, instantly seeing the outcome on screen and automatically updating the underlying numeric data. The software's ability to 'slice and
dice' visual data enables the buyer and merchandiser to work together and interactively look at the range from multiple dimensions, allowing them to
analyse different scenarios and adjust the balance of the range to ensure that what the consumer sees in-store is a complete visual story.
On-line sample rooms
Using vrLineplan the designers, buyers and merchandisers can visualise the range throughout the range planning process. The easy-to-use software provides
the design, buying and merchandising teams with an on-line sample room, where images and product information are stored and managed, including scanned
sketches and photographs, or directly imported CAD drawings or digital images.
vrSampleroom stores and organises the product pictures and data for fast and easy retrieval, so that any member of the team can 'see' what is being
discussed without needing access to the sample, the Foamex storyboard or sketch. In addition browsing tools allow the buying team to organise vrSampleroom
in a myriad of different ways; by price point, by status, by product hierarchy, by colour, and more conventional data access is available via spreadsheets
that cater for quickly reviewing lots of product records simultaneously and for rapid updating of multiple records.
vrStoryboard provides the ability to visualise how items co-ordinate together, allowing buyers and merchandisers to quickly place merchandise on the screen
as if they were looking at actual garments on a gridded wall panel. Integrated with the on-line sample room the vrStoryboards automatically update
themselves when product images or attributes change, so that the whole team can immediately see how the developing range looks without needing to search
out samples, sketches or swatches.
Store visualisation
With vrMockshop the eventual retail proposition can easily be tested at any stage of the assortment planning and development process, using a complete
virtual store model, allowing the buyer/merchandiser to visualise in-store presentation and to plan and develop ranges that make best use of the available
in-store space. With the same virtual store environments the visual merchandising and marketing teams can visualise and plan how the range will be
presented, promoted and visually merchandised, including graphics, mannequins and other visual elements.
Where pure numeric solutions can only make the numbers look right, with vrSampleroom, vrLineplan and vrMockshop, new ranges are tested in an accurate store
environment before bulk production commitments are made, enabling brands, wholesalers and retailers to adjust and strengthen their retail propositions and
ensure that what the consumers sees and experiences is always well-structured and visually appealing.
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