Automated planograms have also taken the effort out of the visual merchandising process, with the ability to try out different styles and change floor plans on a weekly or even daily basis without the need to physically experiment.
It all sounds good fun, but purchasing and using planogram software has been a highly specialised and expensive investment in the past. However, retail space planning specialists Metiri Mensus believe it may have found a solution – virtual reality software that helps visual merchandisers create store layouts quickly from their own computers.
The software is called Mockshop and has been developed by UK-based company vrSoftware. Although new to Australia, this software is already established across Europe and the US, and is currently being used by clients in 28 countries worldwide.
Metiri Mensus marketing manager Edwina Henningham says a growing number of retailers and brands, including Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s, Adidas and Columbia Sports, are now using visual merchandising software, for a number of reasons.
“Retailers find that with just a few clicks of a mouse, garments, fixtures, and even point-of-sale material can all be dragged and dropped around the screen to create accurate store layouts in a matter of minutes,” she says.
Mockshop allows users to look at the shop floor from a visual point of view. “The software allows head office to develop a story from a visual merchandising perspective and be confident it will be replicated in each store, creating a consistent brand identity.
“For head office teams, using Mockshop software allows visual merchandisers to do what they do best and focus on producing shopfloors that sell; these can be emailed as a PDF to the store. For shopfloor staff, easy-to-follow directives eliminate guesswork and help them deliver accurate store layouts that engage with shoppers, turning more browsers into buyers.”
Henningham says the drag and drop functionality in particular makes Mockshop easy to use and interactive. “For instance, if you photograph a garment, let’s say a T-shirt, the software has been designed to enable the item to be displayed either hanging or folded.
“If you would like the T-shirt to display on a hanger instead of folded on a shelf, just drag and drop and from one fixture to another and the T-shirt’s appearance changes instantly.”
Henningham says companies using the software gain great benefit by creating a virtual shop and updating their planograms automatically as they remerchandise the stores.
“The ability to visualise and analyse your product range and highlight gaps in areas such as price points and colour groups is also proving an invaluable component of Mockshop,” she says.
While the software is aimed at automating the production side of visual merchandising, it also allows designers to create their own lookbooks while others can crunch the data for analysis.