B&Q Integrated Space Planning
With the economy in recession, companies could just retreat into a time of entrenchment, where they cut costs, and waited out the pull-back period. Conversely, companies could use this opportunity to assess their products, their strategies, their market focus, their channels to market, and the business processes that they have built their enterprises upon, and invest aggressively and creatively to differentiate themselves for the future.
No retailer is as challenged as those in DIY in a recessional economy. The home is the first place where consumers cut back their disposable income in bad times. The Space Merchandising and Planning team at B&Q saw the chance to ‘sweat’ the space asset they have to give the customer the offer they want. They needed a plan, a benefits case and a change management programme to improve the delivery of in-store layouts and merchandising plans and move the retailer towards using an automated space planning and planogram system. B&Q worked with i-Realise (formerly Itim Consulting) to deliver these objectives… Martin Bitmead, Space Manager at B&Q “ We partnered with i-Realise who could blend deep retail operational skills and translation of a complex problem into a set of operational procedures that could be implemented and measured and had the skill to help B&Q develop a vision of how it could work with a system and to come up with a down to earth and practical way of making it happen and, therefore, had a very powerful impact in improving customer experience and ROI”.
B&Q is moving from a DIY offer to a wider home improvement offer, which would include adding wider ranges and installation to its product mix. In addition, B&Q has made no secret of its desire to be the ‘First and Only for Home Improvement’. Key trends in the market have been identified by the retailer as wealthier consumers who could be traded up to premium products, changing gender roles – 72% of home improvement is female led – economic and social change, and the growth of ‘do it for you’, i.e. the provision of installation services.
Priorities are ‘products, stores, people and service’, as B&Q move to the next generation of automated layouts and planograms designed to help in store staff create consistent displays of product throughout the store portfolio.
“The work being undertaken internally on IT represents a revolution,” was Médéric Payne, Director of Merchandising’s comment on the work undertaken by i-Realise. “It will enable us to introduce products more quickly, sustain product availability and support the store ordering process far more effectively.”
“Merchandising is a mixture of art and science,” he explains. “How the shelves look is key to how well products sell, but the numbers have to work too in terms of the amount of stock we have available for each customer purchasing specific items for their project. Our new system will help us get the science right more quickly and help us harness the advantages of providing staff with good visuals of what the fixture should look like.”
“The approach and style that i-Realise have brought to B&Q is one of discreet and supportive integration, rather than us feeling that the consultants have taken over – they are truly one of the team’
New B&Q formats will act as the testing ground for the new merchandising technology and the drive forward for the future.