When virtual reality headsets came on the scene in the mid-1990s, they were mostly used by consumers to enhance the video gaming experience. The idea of eventually using this cutting-edge technology to strategize product placement in a grocery store was probably unheard of. But at H-E-B Digital, we find the best solutions for our Partners and customers on the cutting edge of new technology — which is why we’re building the Virtual Set Room Tool.
Imagine this —as far back as Buyers and Merchandisers have been rethinking product placement and assortment variety in our stores, they’ve been moving in product and strategizing placement by using our Mock Store at one of our warehouses. While this process works, it’s time-consuming and can be wasteful. Vendors bring in a case or two of product and help move everything around, which takes up a lot of time and oftentimes unused product is left behind. So, we wanted to figure out a way to be more conscious and thoughtful of our Partners’ time while also saving cost.
When we began brainstorming, we posed this question: how could we effectively plan product placement in the stores, without ever having to drive to or set foot in the mock store? Our answer was the Virtual Set Room Tool (VSR). A Visual Merchandising Tool that uses 2D, 3D, and VR environments to visualize a planogram — something that Buyers or Merchandisers could easily do on a laptop or in a conference room.
In VSR, the merchandiser can add and remove products, adjust facings, remerchandise, and view assortment data to help make planning decisions. Once they’re done, they can easily save the plan and send it to their Shelf Edge Analyst. Additionally, our Assortment Tool can easily import the necessary data into the VSR to maximize informed decision making.
Currently this tool is being piloted and tested by a few of our Buyers and we are excited by the feedback we’re getting. Bill Tate, one of our Procurement Partners, was part of the pilot group last year and finds a lot of value in the VSR Tool for himself and his fellow Procurement and Merchandising Partners. “To be able to log in, see product, and easily move it around is a game-changer for us. Right now, if I want to see how something looks I can either get with my Plan-o-gram Analyst to work something out using color-coded boxes on a screen or get product delivered to the mock store and work with it there, which can take a week or more.” Bill shared “With this, I’d be able to access it easily on my own and make changes without a ton of extra work.”
That’s not all — we have big plans for the future use of this tool. Our Customer Insights team has already expressed interest in using this tool during customer panel groups. During these panel groups, we can get feedback directly from the people who interact with our product assortment as shoppers. “It’s all about the right assortment with the right merchandising to improve the in-store experience for our customers” says Product Owner Aaron Tabor. Additionally, we also anticipate our Own Brand team will use this tool to inform their design and placement decisions.
By 2023, we expect this tool will be readily available for use by our Buyers, Procurement, Shelf Edge, and Merchandising teams. Special thanks to Aaron Tabor and our Virtual Experience Digital Team for their work in developing this exciting new tool.
