Archived How can I zone faster?

[asidius]

Seasonal HL TM here.

I was tasked with zoning G block (Market) and I zoned it from 5:30 - 11 pm (breaks included) and was unable to finish the zone. I zoned from the back to front (soda to bread). When I had to leave, I had about 4 aisles left.

I'm seriously slow at zoning and it's irritating because I would like to stay on past seasonal but if I can't even finish a zone, I don't see why they would keep me. Is there something I'm missing with zoning quickly and effectively?

 

[IhaveaDream]

Move faster

 

[PT Target]

I'm in softlines, but have noticed that it has a lot to do with whether the section had received any attention during the day. If the entire area has been ignored all day, it will take twice as long to zone. I don't know if you are slow or not, but if it's a disaster when you start, that's not your fault.

If someone has gone through and spiffed it up a little during the day, it goes a lot faster.

If an area looks put together and neat, people are less likely to be the first person to mess it up. If there's crap everywhere, no one feels bad about making a larger mess -- this is especially applicable to shoes. If it is kept neat and zoned, people will try on shoes, and if they don't want them - put them back in the box and put the box on the shelf. If there are three pairs of shoes on the floor in each aisle, no one thinks twice about leaving their discards on the floor, too.

 

[Jack of all Workcenters]

Seasonal HL TM here.

I was tasked with zoning G block (Market) and I zoned it from 5:30 - 11 pm (breaks included) and was unable to finish the zone. I zoned from the back to front (soda to bread). When I had to leave, I had about 4 aisles left.

I'm seriously slow at zoning and it's irritating because I would like to stay on past seasonal but if I can't even finish a zone, I don't see why they would keep me. Is there something I'm missing with zoning quickly and effectively?

I don't know the size of your market block, mine for example is 43 aisles long and about 8 shelves deep. and we use the really deep shelves as well

 

[qmosqueen]

drink lots of cafine, energy drinks, and get the lead out. Move faster pussycat, faster I said !!

 

[evilSF]

Consumables is really tough. They usually get a ton of pulls which slows you down. Wear gloves as your hands get beat up. When you zone the water, take it off the shelf from the back so it's easier to get a full wall of it.
We don't mess with the chips or soda, we have people that come in and take care of it. We only touch it, if it's bad or putting away abandons.
The Also only tell us to pull one forward, rather the whole row. I try to pull multiple forward just because any shoppers grabbing one, it makes it look bad. You slowly gather speed when you do it enough.

 

[semantics]

Depending on the hour of day and your store you may just want to fluff, take atleast one item deep but you generally want atleast 6 inches of product pulled forward so you may get 2-3 product deep. Then just zone as normal cover up the diamonds and make sure the product is lined up and to the right of the pricetag can zip through isles this way although it's not as though.

 

[asidius]

I had to zone from G36 to I think G19. I don't recall how many shelves it has. I have problems with boxes because I will usually try to bring a bunch forward but they will end up falling down so I have to fix it. Stuff like cookies and cans are easy cause it's just stacking.

 

[RCKing]

Move faster

lol this.

seriously though, unless your ETL/LOD is a dbag you dont have to legitimately cover up the diamonds. they may say they want a "no diamond" zone but in aisles that look "visually impactful" you could probably spot zone(quick touch-ups). if you work in an area regularly you should be able to also pick up on red/yellow areas vs green areas. i.e. cereal aisles, snack/nut aisles, condiments and all that. i would skip vendor aisles and save those for last because they should be at least once if not twice a day to fill their product. hope this helps

 

[Kartman]

What are these diamonds?

I know about the wall...

 

[RCKing]

What are these diamonds?

I know about the wall...

there are 2 rows of "diamonds" on the shelves. if these can be seen then your zone = red

 

[Kartman]

Hmmmmm...

Thanks!

 

[buliSBI]

What are is your store volume and setup?

- My method was get your reshop at the beginning of your shift and everytime you come back from breaks.
- Also start your zone with the slowest shopped areas, bulky items, & lay flat items, and end with your hardest hit and small items. For market, start with bag candy and sodas. And end with cereals and can goods.
- Learn Planogram numbers for reshop. Aisle # 0-0-0 (section-shelf-item position)
- I don't think this works for Market because of FIFO, but you don't always have to Super Zone or bring everything to the front for other areas. Just get what you can reach.
- Communicate your status to the closing TL

With it being the holidays, Market is always going to be destroyed. There were times I would zone an area 3 times over yet it would still be destroyed by guests if it was shopped hard. Usually my store would leave Market unmanned except for the holidays then team zone it after closing.

 

[oath2order]

Time and practice will allow help you read the label and remember what product goes where

 

[pleb]

The only places that we zone individually is paper, chemicals, pfresh, and some parts of market. I can only imagine having to do it solo because we are given 5 minutes to zone our aisle while we're in one of those sections.

Doing it section by section can save you some time because you won't miss anything. Also most of the time the name brand items are usually separated by the up&up items. So I first try to match the logo then the design before even looking at the price tag because now you just have to look for a matching number size or flavor. It gets easier with practice, especially in market because we have a ton of # 0-0-0.# that only have the first 3 on the box.

 

[mrknownothing]

Use both hands.

Seriously. A former TL of mine told me that once, and I figured he was just messing with me, but it really does help. Don't hold onto your PDA or MyDevice the whole time; use a holster. Also, always have a shopping cart with you so you have somewhere to dump all the stray items you'll find. And as others have said, don't worry too much about vendor aisles. Those aisles are supposed to be maintained by the vendors who supply the product.

Since I'm a "super-zoner," I rarely get all the way through dry market, so I try to get through the worst aisles, touch up the front endcaps, and pick up stray items from the entire department.

What are these diamonds?

I know about the wall...

They're the diamond-shaped holes near the front edge of the shelf. They're used for holding certain fixtures in place (see: those wire fence things on the angled shelves) as well as display signs and shelf liners.

Some leaders like to say "we don't sell diamonds," so pull everything forward to cover the diamonds.