Planet Antares Guidance For Category Management

Category management stands for a system designed to enable you to take advantage of market research in selection of products for your Planet Antares vending machines.

Basically, three major steps are involved in designing a Planogram. According to Planet Antares Inc, these include the following:
a) Identification of product categories
b) Space allocation to each category
c) Deciding on specific products for each category

This may seem like a judgment issue but it is better to divide these categories into further sub-categories. Actually, it is easier to do a planogram if there is lesser number of categories. The Planogram will ensure greater variety if there are more categories identified for the same.

After completing the above steps, it is essential to allocate space in the Planet Antares vending machine. Make sure that at least one facing is available for each category. The number of facings will depend on the category sales and how the products fit into the shelf.

You also need to focus on product selection while practicing category management. As a Planet Antares vending operator, you need to consider several factors for this task, such as:

Core products
These are items that sell consistently in all machines and represent 20% of the total product mix.

Cycle products
These are filled in each machine during the menu cycle but changed between such cycles. Majority of the products constitute cycle products.

Choice products
These are items that can be provided for a particular location to meet specific requirements. These are usually less than 20% of the product selection.

It is not necessary that every vending operator may prefer the same Planograms for different accounts. On the whole, a Planogram gives you control over what products to be included in the vending machines. By applying this technique in your Planet Antares vending business, you can ensure efficiency in operations as drivers will use personal preferences to save time.