Why do stores stock some products at adult eye level and other products down low where children can easily find them? Why is the milk at the back of the store?
It's not by chance! With 70% of purchase decisions made within the store, product placement is intentionally determined based on many factors. Stores generally stock their shelves according to a blueprint or "planogram" that is based on product movement and demography. The goal is to improve customer shopability and, consequently, store profits.
Gladson Interactive creates planograms for their clients by interpreting data generated by chains and data syndicators who track how consumers shop, sales volumes, product profitability, and other factors. For instance, they may create a planogram for a shelving section 54" tall by 8' wide of pasta or analgesics. Planograms may be in schematic or pictorial form. Ted Gladson, president of the company, is widely credited with inventing the picture planogram, a photographic printout that shows exactly how the shelves should look.
To do this, Gladson Interactive has created an electronic space management database. For each product, they input a color electronic image of the package, UPC bar code, package dimensions, and product information. Concentrating in the areas of food, health & beauty, and general merchandise, their database contains over 600,000 items. Current! data entry personnel and photographs continuously update or add to that database at the rate of 1500 items per week. The database is used internally to build planograms for clients, as well, as sold directly to clients. Their client, may be manufacturers like Proctor & Gamble, Unilever, or Pepsi; retailers, like Jewel. OSCO, or CVS: or middlemen.
"A picture is worth a thousand words." Shoppers are familiar with shelf tags that identify the product, its size, price, and bar code. Gladson is marketing a new shelf tag to retailers that utilizes their database: Image Shelf Tags™°. The Image Shelf Tag° adds a color photo of the product. Larger Image Shelf Signs' draw attention to products on special.
Research has shown the photos to be a significant addition. Shoppers and personnel can more readily identify products from the pictures than from print. This is especially true for our increasingly diverse population for whom English is a second language, and also for our aging population whose eyesight may not be sharp. In studies, store employees have been shown to reduce by 40% the time required to hang the tags and restock shelves with Image Shelf Tags™°. As a consequence, stocking errors and products out-of-stock are significantly reduced. Results are better service to customers and improved profitability in industry where margins are thin.
The concept is unique to Gladson, as they have succeeded in bringing together three critical features: software to incorporate image and price, a special label ink that does not smear or fade, and a large database of images. Gladson can manufacture the Image Shelf Tags™ and Signs°, or provide a complete system for retailers to generate their own.
Supporting e-tailers. Another application for Gladson's product database is in support of e-commerce, such as online food and drug suppliers. Photos for planograms and Image Shelf Tags™ and Signs° need to be frontal shots. E-commerce prefers angled shots, that are more three-dimensional, plus complete package information in a searchable database. Gladson adds these features to its database to support e-commerce. If you shop Peapod, you see Gladson data.
Designing stores. One of the earliest offshoots from the merchandising end of the business was store design Gladson deSigns stores for independent retailers, primarily pharmacies and home health care stores. This may involve a limited renovation or complete gutting out and redesign of an existing store. Beginning with on-site visits and consultations with the owner, the designers analyze all interior elements the image the owner wishes to project spaces for services, traffic flow, and merchandising, to name a few. They come up with a complete layout and design plan that includes flooring, shelving, cabinetry, countertops, color lighting, etc. Gladson has designed 5,000 stores in North America, including some 250 in Mexico and Puerto Rico. This represents about 20% of the independent pharmacy market.
Looking back. A pharmacist; Ted Gladson began, a merchandising business for pharmacies in his Chicago home back in 1971. Within a few years, the business had taken over the house. The family moved to Naperville. After scouting the area, in 1978 he built the second building in College West Business Park, at 1982 Ohio Street. As the business grew, he leased additional space in other nearby buildings. In 1997, a larger nearby building became available. Gladson Interactive today has 85 employees in its 20,000 sq. ft. building at 1973, Ohio Street.
As part of his early business Ted Gladson conducted seminars to educate pharmacists about merchandising. At the time, there was no statistical basis for where products were placed 'As the industry evolved, so did Gladson's company. He remains actively ` involved in educating via trade groups and university lectures, writing columns and articles, and presenting seminars on the subjects of retail design, merchandising, space management, and ecommerce.
Universal Database™ • E-Commerce Database • Advertising Database • Planogram Services • Creative Services • Image Merchandising Solutions™ • Store Design • Gladson Information