How to use a planogram checklist to set a shelf

Help center / Planning shelves

Every approved planogram appears in Tasks as a checklist. It follows the shelf from the top shelf down and left to right, so the person stocking it can work straight through.

Use it on the floor

1. Open Tasks on a phone or tablet and choose the layout.
2. Zoom the read-only shelf drawing to check where something goes.
3. Tick each placement as its facings go up. Progress saves as you go and is shared with everyone in the business.

Print or export

Download the checklist as CSV, or use Print / PDF to save it through your browser's print dialog for a paper copy at the shelf. Each approved layout in Tasks now has a Shelf labels button as well, which prints one label per placement in shelf order.

What each checklist line tells you

The checklist shows the approved version number, the date it was approved, and the fixture. Any store instructions written at approval sit above the list. Each line then gives:

• the product name and SKU
• the shelf number, counted from the top
• the distance in inches from the left edge of the shelf
• the facings to set, and how many units fit behind them
• the placement note, when the planner added one

Turn off Show completed to hide ticked lines and see only what is left. A progress bar counts the placements done out of the total.

How do you follow a planogram?

Work in the checklist's order. Start at the top shelf, measure from the left upright to the position on the line, and set the facings before moving right. Finishing each shelf before starting the next keeps a long row from pushing the rest of the shelf out of place.

The shelf drawing in Tasks is read-only, so nobody on the floor can change the plan by accident. If a product does not fit, stop and tell the person who planned the layout. A change goes through a new revision and approval.

How to stock shelves in checklist order: a worked example

This is a worked example with made-up figures. A five-shelf snack gondola has 18 placements. Shelf 1 starts with crackers at 0 in from left, 3 facings, up to 15 units.

1. Bring the stock for shelf 1 to the aisle before you start.
2. Clear the old product off shelf 1 and wipe the shelf.
3. Measure 0 in from the left upright and set three facings of crackers, filling back to the 15 units shown.
4. Tick the line. The next line on shelf 1 starts where the crackers end.
5. Put the shelf label for each product under its facings as you go.
6. Repeat down to shelf 5, then check the progress bar reads 18 of 18.

When older stock is going back on the shelf, put it at the front so it sells first. That is general retail practice and the checklist does not track dates.

How to print a planogram

Choose Print / PDF on the layout in Tasks. The print page carries the business and store name, the approved version and date, and the fixture size and shelf count. Below that come the shelf drawing, the store instructions, and a placement table with a Done box, shelf, product and SKU, position from left, facings and capacity.

To save planogram as PDF, choose Print / save as PDF and pick Save as PDF as the printer in the print dialog. Lines already ticked in Tasks print with a ticked box.

How to print shelf labels for a layout

The Shelf labels button uses the approved version, so the labels match the shelf the store is setting. Labels print top shelf first and then left to right, in the order you put them up. Before printing, choose:

• Label size. Shelf edge, 2.5 by 1.25 in; small, 2 by 1 in; or large, 3.5 by 2 in. Shelf edge labels are the default size.
• Code. A barcode, a QR code, both, or no code.
• QR code target. A link to the product's stock in headoffis, or the SKU as plain text. QR code shelf labels with the link open that product's stock in headoffis on a phone, after signing in.
• Show price. Products with no shelf price print with the price left blank, and the page tells you how many.

Each label carries the product name, SKU, shelf number and facings. The barcode is the product's own UPC or EAN number when one is saved, and a Code 128 barcode of the SKU otherwise. GS1 US licenses the company prefixes that UPC numbers on packaged goods in the United States are built from.

Check printed prices against what the register charges. NIST Handbook 130 includes the examination procedure for price verification that weights and measures officials use.

Planogram execution across the team

Ticking a line needs the Complete store tasks permission, which every preset role includes. Progress is shared, so two people can split the shelves and see each other's ticks. If a new version is approved while someone is working, headoffis asks them to review the new checklist before continuing, and the new version starts unticked.

Good retail execution depends on the checklist matching the shelf. Ticking a line records that the facings are up. It does not change stock counts, so count or receive stock in Inventory as a separate step.

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