Nielsen is offering consumer product goods companies a new supply chain technology.
The global performance management company debuted its Assortment and Space Optimization (ASO) solution, end-to-end, integrated software for execution, space planning and assortment. With the ASO, CPGs will be able to maximize demand and minimize out-of-stocks. Nielsen will release the software to global markets Monday, including the U.S., Canada, Britain, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and New Zealand.
“Nielsen’s Assortment and Space Optimization recognizes the inextricable link between assortment and physical space, and brings speed, accuracy and simplicity to an otherwise complex and disconnected set of processes,” said Stuart Taylor, senior vice president of global product leadership for ASO. “It provides all the functionality that Nielsen clients have relied on for assortment and space planning into an integrated space-aware assortment solution.”
The cloud-based application brings together real-time data with space-aware analytics, notifying planograms (diagrams or models that indicate the placement of retail products on shelves in order to maximize sales) that each category product is provided with the proper space to perform well within supply chain constraints. Nielsen’s comprehensive data services drive the ASO’s engine through an SaaS structure. Retail and market data are harmonized, while the ASO fosters assortment planning, planogram management, merchandising strategy and workflow services.
Nielsen’s ASO establishes a seamless experience between manufacturers and retailers with an easy-to-navigate platform. From production to in-store execution, the software simplifies workflow and provides performance analytics. It also enables manufacturers to create retail supply and demand assortments, work with other partners on a unified platform, access data instantly and establish analytics-informed category review stories.
“We have listened to our clients’ struggles around maximizing the balance between demand and supply in the joint business planning process,” said Doug BEnnett, senior vice president of sales effectiveness. “Our end-to-end solution links demand-based assortment analytics with space-aware merchandising inventory models for executable, collaborative plans that yield real incremental growth among our partners.”