Product matrix management. Formation of the assortment matrix of the store. Deepening the product range
Assortment matrix or in other words, the product network is an important component for any distribution area.
When properly drafted, it can largely simplify workflows, make the selection and selection of proposals easier, more convenient and more structured.
Basically, the product matrix is a list of certain positions, combined and structured among themselves according to a pre-set and well-thought-out algorithm.
It can be a variety of characteristics of goods and services: color, shape, model, thickness, length, etc.
For distribution, the product grid is of particular value, as it is an auxiliary element for the sales representative and the manufacturer as a whole. It is a pre-approved list of goods and offers intended for a particular store or outlet.
Working with an assortment matrix by means of manual mechanical input is a rather complicated and time-consuming process. She will demand special attention, long time and effort.
Therefore, for its formation, ABMDD developed a convenient Alt application. It automates the process of creating a matrix of goods, simplifies the supply to your customers and greatly facilitates the distribution activities.
The principle of creating and forming a matrix
This type of matrix acts as an auxiliary list for large retailers, which lists and carefully selects goods and services recommended for mandatory purchase for outlets.
The matrix of goods should act as the basis for rationing the balance of goods in warehouses. It is she who allows you to determine the minimum allowable balance of products, is an approved nomenclature list of goods recommended for sale for a particular client.
The formation of the correct product matrix should begin with the development and analysis of customer formats and geolocations. Or you can go a simpler and more convenient way -.
An automated program that, offline in a shorter period of time, but with greater productivity and in-depth analysis, can independently, based on the parameters you specify, form an assortment matrix.
After the matrix is formed, it is assigned to a specific client. The application itself sends the generated list to the agent as an update. When visiting the application, the agent will see updated lists, in which the priority positions will be highlighted in a certain color.
There is a certain set of parameters from which the assortment matrix is usually formed. An example of what the main criteria might be is given below:
- one-dimensional linear value - size, shape, shade;
- two-dimensional linear value - a combination of two parameters at the same time;
- three-dimensional linear value - a combination of three product characteristics at once.
After you have created and formed an assortment matrix, you can safely proceed to the implementation of the process.
Types of assortment matrices
In addition to the product grid, there is also a planning matrix, which is a more extended version of its counterpart. Home her distinguishing feature- the possibility of fixing the changes made in the time period.
If the product matrix is more than a simple tool communication and interaction with retail outlets, then its planned analogue will be a priority for those who value mobility and efficiency of work.
Detailing the assortment matrix
The more carefully and detailed the product grid is thought out, the more smoothly and efficiently the delivery of goods to retail outlets will be carried out.
To do this, you will need to describe in detail the list of all trademarks available goods, indicate the presence of groups and assortment categories of the outlet, prescribe specific quantity units for each group, category and brand.
An assortment matrix can simplify your distribution business.
Automated trading matrix - a solution for progressive business. The choice is always yours: to progress or to create the appearance of progress.
An assortment or product matrix is a list of stock items approved for mandatory sale to a specific customer. The assortment matrix is created taking into account the format and location of the client.
Formation of the assortment matrix in Mobi-S, this is an additional service feature to facilitate the creation of a list of sales of goods for a selected customer. Many large companies form lists of goods required or recommended for sale in a certain store format. The point of sale format is a general name, a category that characterizes customers according to some parameters. A commodity matrix is simply the name of a list or group of goods collected according to some attribute. After the matrix is generated for the goods, it is also assigned to the client. When an agent visits a client, he sees in the list of products highlighted in blue products recommended for sale this client in the context of outlet formats.
In Russian marketing, in addition to the name "assortment matrix", you can find its following names: product matrix, product range matrix, product matrix.
An example of an assortment matrix
Mobi-S uses the creation of an assortment matrix of goods and binding to customers using outlet formats. Several formats are specified. Each format contains its own list of products. A client can only be assigned one point of sale format.
Step 1 Creating a list of outlet formats
Step 2 Product matrix, we distribute goods by TT formats. One product can be in different formats. note Product 3 can be sold in like in a channel Tent also in the channel Supermarket.
Step 3 We assign the TT format to the client. One client - one format.
This is how our assortment matrix will look like as a result.
When choosing a client Client 1 in the list of products, products included in the same outlet format as the client will be highlighted in blue.
Formation of the assortment matrix and its use in Mobi-S
In this video, I will show you how to use an automation program mobile commerce Mobi-S to create a commodity matrix and how it can be used.
For Mobi-S, the formation of a commodity matrix is in dialogue Setting up outlet formats integration module. The procedure for setting the product matrix is similar to that described above. Create TT formats, distribute goods and assign your TT format to the client.
After you have created an assortment matrix, you can use it for the purposes of automating mobile commerce. The product matrix is loaded into the PDA at the time of the request.
Create any document. Select the client for which the product matrix is configured. Go to the tab Products. Press the filter selection button (button with a funnel, at the top left above the list of products). In the dialog that opens, select the item Present in the sales channel.
After using this filter, only products from the assortment matrix will remain in the list of products.
Planned matrix
The planning matrix is an extended version of the assortment matrix function. The main difference is the fixation of matrix changes over time. With this function, you can assign a different assortment matrix of goods to a customer for each day, and you will have a history of changes in this matrix. The planned matrix has priority over the matrix specified through outlet formats. If both types of matrices are given, then on mobile device only the item from the planning matrix will be displayed.
23.01.2014
ABC-analysis of sales is one of the stages in the formation of the assortment matrix in the store. If your task is to create an assortment that meets the needs of your customer, then the effectiveness of ABC analysis cannot be overestimated. The very methodology for constructing sales analysis is quite simple and is based on the Pareto law, which states that " 20% of efforts give 80% of the result, and the remaining 80% of efforts - only 20% of the result". This universal rule serves as the basis for classifying resources (in this case, goods) according to their importance to the retailer.
The result of the ABC analysis of sales will be an understanding of the logic of the buyer's behavior and, as a result, an understanding of what kind of product offer should be made to achieve the best results. financial results. Let's take a closer look at how ABC sales analysis is used to form an assortment matrix.
Methodology of ABC-analysis of sales (on the example of the configuration "1C: Enterprise 8.3" "DALION: TREND").
The main task of ABC-analysis of sales in the formation of the assortment matrix retail store is to answer the question: How to make sure that the offer meets the expectations of customers who have entered the store and are at the stage of making a purchase? Of course, ABC analysis is a separate tool that works in conjunction with other techniques aimed at studying buying behavior(surveys, focus groups, etc.). In this regard, the formulation of hypotheses and the interpretation of the results cannot be taken out of context, environment in which the store exists.
ABC-classification in the analysis of sales is formed according to 2 main indicators: by profit and by turnover. Modern analysis tools allow you to build an ABC report by two parameters at once (Fig. 1).
The ABC analysis process can be divided into several steps. The first stage of classification is an enlarged analysis of assortment groups, according to which an assortment tree will be formed in the future (Fig. 2). The second stage is the analysis of product categories within the assortment groups. The main task at this stage is to determine the key consumer properties by which the buyer chooses a product in your store. In the example of a commodity matrix presented below (Fig. 2), for the assortment category "kefir", 2 properties are key: "fat content" and "volume".
Note 1: in the inventory system "DALION: TREND "You can set any number of consumer properties for each card and item group through the "Group processing of goods" service.
Thus, ABC-analysis of sales in the context of various consumer properties allows you to determine which of them are decisive when choosing a product. The properties themselves are identified by an expert through the sequential construction of two-dimensional ABC-reports in the context of these properties. On fig. Figures 3 and 4 present two ABC-reports for the assortment category "juices": in fig. 3 - report in the context of the "brand" property, in fig. 4 - in the context of the "taste" property.
The defining property or properties will be the one or more properties that have the strongest impact on sales, and thus clearly reflect the top and bottom products in the reports. So, for example, in Fig. Figure 3 shows that the "brand" property is not a key property for the "juices" category and does not form a clear ABC classification. The "taste" property, on the contrary, reflects the clear leaders: "berry" juices and "apple" flavored juices.
The result of a phased analysis in terms of properties will be a clear understanding of which properties should be included in the assortment tree and which should not (Fig. 2). As a result, an assortment tree will be formed, and in the future, the product offer itself, which meets the expectations of your buyer.
Go to the description of the software functionality in the "DALION: TREND" configuration.
Definition and types
The assortment matrix is a list of goods (commodity items) to be sold in a retail company, compared by any one important indicator for the store - for example, depending on the supplier or price.
The most common are two types of assortment matrices.
List of goods
key factor is a list of goods to be sold in a retail company. You have to start with him. How to define it? You have to go from the general to the details.
Let's answer the question first: Who are the buyers who are guaranteed to come to our store? Who they are, where they live, how much they earn, where they prefer to buy jewelry, where else they go for it, how much they spend on jewelry and how often they buy it, what styles, types of jewelry they prefer, etc. It is important to understand exactly the image of a typical (target) buyer, to present it in as much detail as possible. There may be not one type of such typical buyers, but two or three (but not five or ten). It is important that you make sure that they are guaranteed to come to your store because:
They already go to it;
. live or work nearby;
. there are no other shops nearby;
. we have what others do not have and what our target customers need;
. everyone already knows us (a well-known store or a well-known chain).
Then select (specify) the store format: on what area, in what place do we work for our target customers?
The format is a specification of the company's strategy. Their number is limited, for jewelry retail it is usually:
Jewelry shop,
. jewelry store,
. jewelry boutique,
. jewelry section.
Further, based on the target groups of buyers and the format chosen (suitable for the target buyers), we determine the product groups that, in our opinion, must be in the store, because it is these types of goods that our target buyer wants to buy. For example, our customers are low-income residents of residential areas, to a lesser extent - buyers with an average income level, mostly housewives with children; format - a small jewelry store (20-30 sq. m) in mall class "C". Therefore, we determine that silver and gold items should be presented in our store. In this case, gold products should be represented by the following groups:
Products from red, yellow and mixed gold of the 585th test;
. rings, earrings, pendants, chains, bracelets, watches, necklaces;
. each type of product (except chains): without inserts, with zircons, with semi-precious stones, with pearls, with precious stones (including diamonds).
Thus, the first step is to determine which commodity groups we will trade.
Assortment tree
The next step is to compile a multi-level product classifier from the generated list, the so-called assortment tree. As a rule, the classifier contains five levels, although three to five are acceptable. The use of less than three levels does not allow reflecting the structure of the assortment in full and, accordingly, complicates management.
A product classifier should also have lists of product characteristics - those that are not reflected in the classifier itself, but are important and necessary for analyzing sales, income, turnover and for planning purchases. For example, the characteristics of gold products are: sample and color of gold; any ring - size; diamonds - the size of the stone, the number of stones (single or loose), the type of setting, the type of cut, the characteristics of the diamond; jewelry in general - design (type of style - classic, geometric, floral, fantasy, etc.), etc. You need to compile, firstly, a list of characteristics for your range, and secondly, all options within each characteristic (library of characteristics).
Matrix construction
Then it is necessary to determine how many types of products should be, that is, to designate the capacity of product categories and product groups. If you already have a store, you need to analyze the shares in income, turnover and occupied retail space (counters and shop windows) using the updated list of product groups / product categories. And lead retail space product categories in accordance with the shares of categories in income based on the principle “the amount of space for a product should correspond to the amount of profit brought; the more income a product brings, the more space it should occupy.
After that, knowing how much space is allocated for each product category, determine the number of products that can be placed there, taking into account the specifics of the format - fewer products are displayed in the boutique, more decor and free space; in the store - the goods are located tightly to each other, usually on pallets, there is little free space. The result of this stage is the exact knowledge of how many products of each type should be in the store.
It remains to determine the proportions of price segments (high, medium, low) for the entire range (this is partly duplicated with the assortment-price matrix). As a result, we must know, for example, that there should be 60 chains in a store, five types of length, 15 types of weaving. We paint the quantity for each combination of length and type of weaving. For example, the “belzer” weaving chain is presented in sizes: 45, 40 and 35 cm. And so on for all product categories.
All. The matrix is built.
Commodity views
But that's not all. Any matrix requires management - adjustments, changes, input-output of goods, their rotation depending on changes in the composition of buyers, the amount of money they have, their tastes, fashion, demand in general, depending on the number of competitors and their actions, on the general economic situation in country. The stable components in this process are the store format (it is not recommended to change it), the capacity of the store (if the area and number of counters have not changed), the list and ratio of the main product groups.
Note: it is impossible to change (optimize) the assortment to achieve higher results (turnover, income) without organizational changes. The assortment is created by specific people in the company, and in order for them to create a different assortment, they must work differently, or it must be different people. In order for them to work differently, they need different knowledge, conditions and resources: different tasks, different Information system, differently streamlined business processes, another organizational structure, finally. Therefore, it is important to be prepared for the fact that changing the assortment entails the need for other changes in the company.
In practice, so-called commodity views are often used in order to analyze and draw up plans not on the basis of a sufficiently large number of product categories, but on the basis of aggregated (combined according to a certain attribute) data (views). This will be shown below with an example - see figure.
A company can have several commodity views:
Catalog (commodity classifier, which is usually an assortment matrix);
. setting for category management;
. setting by manufacturers (suppliers);
. other settings.
As you can see from the diagram, settings can be made not only at the level of categories and subcategories, but also at lower levels - subgroups and even products.
