Gladson study finds that product dimensions are off for product displays

LISLE, Ill. A study conducted by Gladson Interactive, a provider of product images for the consumer goods industry, reveals that 90 percent of the over 200,000 products examined contained at least one error in either product height, width or depth dimensions. Significantly, nearly one in every five products had errors of greater than 25 percent.

These dimensional errors in the Product Information Masterfile are a leading factor in store out-of-stocks, a major cause of consumer dissatisfaction, the company reported. “Studies conducted in the mid-1990’s by a leading packaged goods manufacturer estimated that a planogram goes out of compliance at the rate of 10 percent each week,” stated Mike Spindler, Gladson chief executive officer. “Based on our findings, there is a high probability that most planograms are never set as intended in the first place due to these product measurement inaccuracies.”

Moreover, inaccuracies at the product item-level were found to be as costly to demand chain applications as case-level inaccuracies were to supply chain applications and a significant hindrance to the long-time industry goal of data synchronization.

While all three dimensions are important, package width most directly affected consumer presentation, the Gladson study found—76 percent of the products in retailer planograms were measured as either narrower or wider than they actually were supposed to be. In total, these width errors represent over a foot per shelf for the average section.