How to use planogram software for your first shelf

Help center / Planning shelves

headoffis takes a shelf from tape measure to stocked: you measure products and fixtures, arrange them in a planogram, approve it, and the store works through the result as a checklist. This planogram software tutorial goes from a new account to one approved shelf, in the order you will do it.

Create your account and business

1. Open Sign up and enter your name, your business name, the name of your first location, your email, and a password of at least 10 characters.
2. headoffis creates the business with you as its owner and opens your workspace.
3. Use the sidebar to move between Products, Planograms, Store map, Inventory, Sales & stats, Tasks and Settings.

Ten characters is the minimum, not the goal. CISA recommends passwords of at least 16 characters, and the NIST digital identity guidelines favor length over forced mixes of symbols. A long passphrase you use nowhere else suits the account that owns the business.

Look around the sample store

A new workspace starts with The Corner Market, a fictional business with two stores, a few products, a 4 ft gondola, a display for the counter and sample planograms. Open them to see how placements, layout checks and checklists work before you enter your own data. When you are ready, download a backup from Settings, then use Clear catalog & layouts.

The sample works as a planogram software demo inside your own workspace. Its measurements and product branding are fictional, so you can move a product, add facings, or send a layout for review and watch what each step does before any of your own products are involved.

How to plan a shelf layout, one fixture at a time

1. Measure one fixture and the products that belong on it. See how to measure and add products.
2. Add the fixture, then the products, with their real dimensions.
3. Create a planogram for that fixture and place each product. See how to build a planogram shelf by shelf.
4. Resolve any layout checks, send it for review, and approve it.
5. Open Tasks on the shop floor and tick off each placement as it goes up.

Where each step happens in the workspace

• Products holds the catalog: every product with its measured package size, shared by all your locations.
• Planograms is the shelf editor, with layout checks, review and approval.
• Store map places walls, aisles and fixtures to scale and links each fixture to its planogram.
• Inventory counts stock by location, from the backroom to each fixture on the map.
• Sales & stats records sales against stock and shows how fast each product moves.
• Tasks turns every approved planogram into a checklist for the shop floor.
• Settings is where you download a backup or clear the sample data.

Worked example: the snack gondola by the register

This is an illustration, not a measured case. Say the first fixture you choose is the snack gondola you restock most often.

1. Measure the usable width between the uprights, the depth to the front lip, the gap between shelves, and the number of shelves.
2. Measure each snack as it faces the customer and add it in Products, ticking the confirmed box once you have measured a real package.
3. Create a planogram for the gondola and place the products shelf by shelf.
4. A layout check flags a tall jar on the top shelf. Move it to a lower shelf with more clearance and the check clears.
5. Send the layout for review, approve it with a short instruction for the store, and hand the checklist to whoever restocks that evening.

That sequence is the whole planogram process in headoffis: measure, arrange, approve, and set. Every later shelf reuses the products already in the catalog.

Common mistakes on a first shelf

• Planning the whole store at once. Start with one fixture you know well. The steps are the same for the next one.
• Measuring the outside of the fixture. Products sit between the uprights and behind the front lip, so measure that space.
• Leaving measurements unconfirmed. Layout checks flag unconfirmed products and fixtures, and a planogram cannot be approved until every check is clear.
• Clearing the sample too early. Try a review and an approval on the sample first. Download a backup before you clear it.

Frequently asked questions

What is planogram software?

It is a tool for drawing which product goes on which shelf of a fixture, how many facings each one gets, and where each facing sits, based on the measured size of the shelf and the packages. headoffis adds layout checks, an approval step and a checklist the store team follows on the floor.

What do you need to make a planogram?

A tape measure, the fixture's usable width, depth, clearance between shelves and number of shelves, and each product's width, height and depth as it faces the customer. You need a name, SKU and category for each product, and that is enough to start.

How long does it take to make a planogram?

It depends on how many products the fixture holds and whether they are measured yet. Most of the first afternoon goes into measuring. Once products are in the catalog, the next layout is mostly placing and checking.

Who makes planograms?

In large chains a category team usually draws them. A planogram for a small store is more often made by the owner or a manager. In headoffis an employee can prepare a layout, and a person whose role includes approval signs it off.

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