Joint Assortment, Layout & Stock Planning
Optimize SKU selection, facings, placement and shelf stock together — reducing the back-and-forth needed to reconcile assortment choices with available space.
One optimization model for assortment, layout, facings and shelf stock — a coordinated plan for every store, not four disconnected steps.
APLN brings assortment selection, shelf layout, facings and target shelf stock into one optimization model. It calculates a coordinated plan for each store, balancing commercial goals, merchandising rules, local demand and physical shelf constraints.
No more manual product selection or dragging items onto shelves — the plan is generated, then yours to adjust.
Always up to date and personalized for every store. APLN adapts to local demand, equipment and sales patterns, and can be deployed either in the cloud or on-premise.
It runs entirely in your browser — no installation. And we've tested a natural-language interface that turns plain business requests into planning settings, so you can configure the model in your own words.
Maximize planogram efficiency by targeting sales, margin and need-coverage across diverse shopper missions.
Define required or excluded SKUs and ensure key product types are represented — e.g. “at least one black laundry detergent”.
Enforce placement rules (“items over 6 kg on bottom shelves only”), brand-facing limits and compliance with previous layouts.
Group and sort by brand or price logic — “left to right, cheapest to most premium” — reflecting category principles.
Adjust facings by delivery schedule and restocking frequency; account for item dimensions and stacking feasibility.
Shape brand blocks — horizontal, vertical or rectangular — and control whether a brand spans bays or stays in a section.
Optimize SKU selection, facings, placement and shelf stock together — reducing the back-and-forth needed to reconcile assortment choices with available space.
The algorithm weighs sales, margin, dimensions, weight and supplier terms to build high-performing planograms.
Describe your assortment, merchandising and shelf-stock requirements in plain language. Built-in AI translates them into planning rules, constraints and parameters.
Full automation by default — and when you want to tweak the layout, a lightweight editor makes manual adjustments fast and intuitive.
Where assortment planning and the physical shelf fall out of sync — and what APLN is built to fix.
Disconnected assortment and planogram processes, leading to stock gaps or overcrowded shelves.
“One-size-fits-all” layouts that ignore local equipment and demand at store level.
Manual effort and delays in updating planograms, slowing product rotation and launches.
Inconsistent compliance with planograms due to complexity or lack of relevance.
Difficulty balancing business rules and shelf constraints while maximizing sales potential.
Selects and places products in a single process — eliminating the gap between assortment and shelf execution.
Adapts planograms to brand requirements, equipment limits and product specifics — store by store.
Builds layouts from real sales, margins and contract terms — so the shelf works for performance, not habit.
APLN is also being designed to work as an optimization engine alongside existing planning tools. Integration through APIs or file exchange would let teams keep their current planogram editor and approval workflow.
No planograms — we don't use them.
APLN quickly selects assortment against real shelf capacity, ensures need-units are represented, and sets target shelf stock.
Basic planograms / schematics with periodic updates.
APLN automatically updates planograms and picks the best assortment under placement rules to maximize sales and margin.
Planograms are critical for CVP — high merchandising standards.
APLN supports 48+ placement rules and detailed sorting down to a specific shelf, with automatic compliance guaranteed.
Strong developers, data scientists and business consultants with 10+ years in retail and digital transformation.
Across grocery, electronics, DIY and more — including multi-regional chains and networks with hundreds to thousands of stores.
Hands-on transformation at EY and BCG, plus roles inside retailers — we know the process on the slide and in the aisle.
There's no universal best practice — we've seen the same problem solved many ways, and we look for the approach that fits your company.
apln.ai is licensed on custom agreements tailored to each client — factoring in the number of stores, data volume and level of integration. Optional onboarding and consulting are available.
Contact us for pricingHave a planning challenge, an integration idea, or feedback on our approach? We'd welcome a brief message — whether you're exploring future possibilities or considering a specific project.