Facing

Content

• What is facing?
• Features and principles of facing
• Goals and objectives of facing
• The relationship between facing and SKU
• The formula for facing

What is facing?

Facing is a strategy for placing products on the shelves of self-service stores that ensures optimal presentation of product units (faces) in the customers' line of sight. The main goal of facing is to ensure that product packaging is facing customers, making them more attractive and noticeable. This methodology not only enhances the visual aspect of the retail space but also serves as an important tool for retailers, allowing them to promote specific brands and increase sales volumes.

Although many may think that facing is simply placing products in the front row on the shelf, in practice, this task is much more complex. To properly position products, it is necessary to consider many factors, including packaging features, turnover, and customer preferences. Thus, facing not only determines product visibility but also measures the amount of space allocated for each product on the shelf, which is also called the number of faces.

Features and principles of facing

Facing has several unique characteristics and principles that distinguish it from other merchandising methods:

• Products should be placed at the edges of shelves so that their packaging is visible to customers.
• Shelves should be regularly restocked, as an absence of products is considered unacceptable.
• All brands in the category should be visible on the shelves to provide customers with a full selection.
• The arrangement of products should follow the principle of prioritization: the most important products for sales take up more space.
• The placement system should be intuitive and visually appealing to customers.

When it comes to the practical application of facing, products that have high sales or strategic importance to the store receive more shelf space. For example, if one of the products is narrower, it may take up more space on the shelf, allowing for more units to be displayed. This allows retailers to optimize space usage and enhance overall trading efficiency.

Goals and objectives of facing

Facing aims to achieve several key goals, including:

• Increase sales: Proper product placement enhances their attractiveness and contributes to sales growth.
• Ensure availability: Facing allows customers to easily find the products they need, improving their shopping experience.
• Timely inventory turnover: Proper product placement enables quicker movement of items with short shelf life or promotional products.
• Enhance store appeal: Maintaining order on shelves and timely replacement of expired products positively impacts the store's reputation.
• Increase employee efficiency: A clear facing scheme simplifies product placement and promotes better space utilization.

The relationship between facing and SKU

SKU (Stock Keeping Unit) is an inventory system that allows tracking the quantity of each product in a store or warehouse. Facing helps determine how many SKUs are lacking on the shelves. If the number of faces is less than the number of SKUs, it can negatively impact sales. Successful management of SKUs and facing allows retailers to optimally allocate shelf space and improve the visibility of the most popular products.

The formula for facing

To calculate the necessary number of facings, various formulas can be used. One of them is:

Number of facings = (Average weekly sales of SKU / Capacity of one facing)

In this formula:

• Average weekly sales of SKU: This is the average number of units sold over a week.
• Capacity of one facing: This is the number of units that can fit in the front row on the shelf.

For example, if a store sells three brands of cereal, the necessary number of facings for each can be calculated considering their average weekly sales and the capacity of facing. This allows for optimal product placement on shelves, which in turn contributes to increased sales.