planogram

A planogram is a diagram that shows how and where specific retail products should be placed on retail shelves or displays in order to increase customer purchases. 

Planogramming is a skill used in merchandising and retail space planning. A person with this skill is be referred to as a planogrammer. Planograms themselves are also referred to as POGs.

By analyzing past and current sales patterns, a planogrammer can make successful recommendations about the number of "facings" a certain product should have on a retail display. The diagram will document how high or low on a shelf the product should display, as well as which products should surround it. The resulting planogram is printed out as a visual to be followed by the part-time help that is often hired to restock retail shelves and displays. This gives executive management of a retail store or chain more control over how products are displayed and allows them to track and improve on the success of their planograms.

Planogram components are often included in large space planning and retail space management software applications. Sophisticated applications use other information about the product, such as the amount of inventory left for the product, to build the diagram. 

See also: supply chain planning (SCP), logistics management, supply chain visibility (SCV), kanban, entity relationship diagram 

Dig deeper

If you look at the retail landscape as a whole, 60% of retailers are using internally developed applications.