Puja Gondola: Margin per Square Foot at Utsav Bazaar
Utsav Bazaar is a 12,000 sq ft supermarket in Siliguri with a 24 ft four-shelf gondola facing the main aisle. The category manager must place six categories before the Puja season: packaged atta (high volume, 8% margin), premium gift hampers (low volume, 28% margin), imported chocolates (medium volume, 22% margin), daily biscuits (high volume, 10% margin), local sweets (seasonal, 18% margin) and cooking oil (high volume, 6% margin). The store's target is to raise gross margin per square foot by 15% without losing basket size. Last Puja, hampers sold 40 units in 10 days, chocolates 600 units, biscuits 2,400 units and oil 1,800 units. The eye-level shelf is 4 ft to 5.5 ft. The store has no planogram software. The visual merchandiser wants a 'Puja gifting' endcap and has one 4 ft endcap available. Staff have been told to 'fill the shelf and keep it looking full'.
1. Allocate the six categories to the four shelves and justify using margin, volume and eye level.
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Eye level (4–5.5 ft) should carry the categories that need impulse and give the best margin per foot, not simply the highest volume. A workable allocation:
Top shelf (above eye level): premium gift hampers - low unit volume, high margin, light, and visible from a distance; use a display card.
Eye level: imported chocolates and local sweets - impulse, seasonal, 18–22% margin. Chocolates sold 600 units and sweets are seasonal, so both get strong visibility.
Reach level (below eye): daily biscuits - high volume but low margin, easy to reach, and a basket filler.
Bottom shelf: atta and oil - heavy, low margin, high volume; bottom placement reduces handling risk and frees eye level for margin.
Justification: margin per square foot = margin per unit × units per sq ft. Hampers earn 28% but few units; chocolates earn more total margin per foot than oil (22% vs 6%). Eye level is the scarcest space, so it goes to the best combination of margin and impulse, not the heaviest item.
2. Design the endcap and explain how to measure success without planogram software.
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Use the endcap for 'Puja gifting': hampers at the top, chocolates and sweets in the middle, a small pack of biscuits as an add-on at the bottom. Keep one clear price ladder: ₹199, ₹499, ₹999. Cross-merchandise a greeting card or gift wrap if available.
Measure success with four simple counts: (1) units sold per day from the endcap versus the same category on the gondola; (2) basket size of customers who bought from the endcap; (3) gross margin per endcap square foot; (4) sell-through before Puja ends, to avoid leftover hampers. Without software, use a daily tally sheet and a photo of the planogram, and compare with last year's category sales. Set a target such as a 25% lift in hampers and 10% in chocolates.
3. What data should the store record to improve next year's planogram?
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Record daily unit sales by SKU and location (gondola vs endcap); stock received and stock left at the end; margin per SKU; basket value of endcap buyers; number of facings and shelf position; customer comments; expiry dates for sweets and chocolates; and the date the display was set and removed. Also record which SKU was out of stock and when, because an empty facing is not a fair test. Photograph the display at set-up and at peak.
Next year, use the sell-through rate and margin per square foot to decide whether hampers deserve more space or should be pre-ordered in smaller quantities. This turns a one-off festive display into a repeatable planogram decision.