Beverage categories such as beer and wine, soft drinks, bottled water, energy drinks, ready-to-drink coffee, and perishable beverages like milk and juice are staples in nearly every retail environment. From grocery and drug stores to convenience stores and warehouse clubs, these products consistently occupy dedicated space due to their high demand and frequent turnover.
What makes beverage merchandising unique is the wide variety of display methods used to present these items. Depending on the store format and product type, beverages may be showcased on standard gondolas, in coolers, on pallets, warehouse racking, end cap displays, or through specialized racks and dispensers. This diversity reflects the need to tailor the shopping experience to different retail formats and consumer expectations.
Challenges in Planogram Execution
Once assortment decisions are finalized and a strategy is in place, space planners are tasked with executing planograms across potentially thousands of stores. This stage presents several challenges, including tight timelines, varying store layouts, limited resources, and the need for accuracy at scale. Maintaining consistency while adapting to unique merchandising requirements adds complexity to the process. To meet these demands, teams need tools that are reliable, fast, and precise.
Whether you are flexing facings based on sales performance, blocking items by brand or packaging, allocating fixtures to specific products, or enforcing percentage-based rules, you need tools that support both precision and flexibility. Even after planograms are finalized, the ability to make agile and detailed adjustments such as item swaps, additions, deletions, or facing changes is critical to staying responsive in a fast-moving market and meeting evolving consumer expectations.
From Insight to Action
To drive smarter collaboration and decision-making, visibility is key. With intuitive dashboards and analytics, you can quickly surface key metrics, identify areas that deviate from your merchandising strategies or performance goals, and take targeted action. These tools make it easy to review planograms with buyers and category teams, highlight problem areas, and ensure every shelf aligns with your broader business objectives.
Take the Next Step
The path forward is clear. To thrive in today’s dynamic retail environment, category managers need more than just data. They need intelligent, scalable solutions that transform strategy into execution. That is where Cantactix comes in. We help you implement powerful tools specifically designed to manage complexity, localize assortments, and maintain consistency across your entire retail footprint. Let us partner with you to modernize your approach to category management and unlock new levels of efficiency and performance.
Industry-Leading Tools for Merchandising Efficiency
Two standout tools leading the industry in merchandising efficiency are MissionControl and Planogram Generator.
MissionControl is a proprietary solution developed by Cantactix to automate the repetitive and time-consuming tasks involved in planogram and floor plan management. Designed to seamlessly integrate with Blue Yonder’s space and floor planning applications, it enhances productivity by streamlining workflows and reducing manual effort. In addition to automation, MissionControl features a powerful analytics dashboard capable of surfacing immediate KPIs that teams can act on. This enables faster, more informed decisions and helps identify and resolve issues before they impact execution.
Planogram Generator, part of Blue Yonder’s Category Management Suite, enables dynamic and large-scale planogram creation based on user-defined rules and merchandising strategies. It allows teams to efficiently execute complex merchandising plans across thousands of planograms with accuracy and consistency.
Together, MissionControl and Planogram Generator deliver a best-in-class merchandising solution. When integrated, they create a seamless end-to-end workflow, from automating repetitive tasks to dynamically generating planograms at scale. This powerful combination enables teams to move faster, respond smarter, and execute with unmatched precision. For retailers and CPGs aiming to elevate their category management strategy, these tools do not just complement each other—they amplify each other, delivering results only possible when used together.