Shelf and floor allocation for retail stores

Merchandising decisions need product performance related to the place where the item is displayed. Link Retail combines point-of-sale records and in-store scanning with its Space Management applications for shelves and floor placements. Staff use the resulting views to assess product ranges, presentation and additional positions around a physical store.

Link Shelves, the shelf analysis application, presents sales, quantity and gross profit with colour-coded performance indicators. The team chooses the objective for a shelf, such as sales, margin or the number of items sold, and reviews which products contribute to it. Link Floor, the placement analysis application, uses sales history and scanned items to compare products across additional floor positions. These records support decisions about where to put bestsellers and how to use the available display space.

The applications provide interfaces for smartphones, tablets and computers so staff can review performance while working in the store. A-B testing compares alternative arrangements and feeds later merchandising decisions. Staff use the data to change shelf ranges, reposition products or revise displays, then examine the following sales records. The chosen objective remains explicit throughout the review, allowing a placement decision based on margin to be assessed differently from one intended to increase item quantities.