1

Dollar General - 101

Project Training Manual

Training Contents

Driveline Merchandiser Dress Code

Page 2

Driveline Documents Page 2

Fulfillment Box / Fixtures Page 3

Shipment Tracking Page 4

“Hold for Driveline” Area Page 4

DG Planograms and Price Labels Pages 4-6

New Item Placement Page 6

Fixture Assignments Page 7

Discontinued Items Page 7

Price Labels Page 7

Non-Consumable Initiative Planograms Page 8

Cooler and Freezer Units Pages 9-10

Defensive Doors Page 10

Reset Expectations Page 11

Fixture Types Pages 12-13

Helpful Tools to Bring from Home Page 13

Dollar General Terminology Page 14

2

3rd Party Merchandising Objective

“Add to, not detract from the in-store merchandising experience”

Merchandiser Dress Code

Please wear your Driveline name badge so that it is visible during every merchandising visit.

Our Dress Code Policy, located on your merchandiser WEB site, is designed to maintain a professional image for our clients and store personnel while offering a comfortable work environment for our employees.

It is Driveline Retail Merchandising’s expectation that employees choose attire and grooming that is consistent with this policy.

Driveline Documents

The following documents may apply to your merchandising visit and can be located on your

merchandiser WEB page:

o In-store Instructions

o Work Orders

o Letter Of Authorization (LOA)

o Forms (Inventory, Out of Stock, Point of Purchase)

o Shipment Tracking Information

o Special Project Notes

o Planograms

3

Fulfillment Box / Fixtures

Fulfillment Materials / Fixtures needed for a specific project, which are shipped to store, will be

outlined in your Driveline Project Instructions posted to your merchandiser WEB page. Fulfillment

Materials (such as planograms, POG notes, labels, etc) will be in a separate bag, inside the

Fulfillment Box. The box is labeled with a Project Name and a Hold For Driveline sticker.

Fixtures

Boxes are usually PINK; but can vary in color depending on vendor.

Fixtures are sent to stores three possible ways:

1. Dollar General Distribution Center (DC) Truck - No Tracking Available

2. Direct Ship From Vendor - Tracking Listed On Work Order

3. Fulfillment Box - Tracking Listed On Work Order

Fulfillment Box

The “Fulfillment Box” is sent from Vestcom directly to each DG store. This box contains the project

specific “Fulfillment Bags” and small fixtures that may be needed for your merchandising visit.

The “Fulfillment Bags” may include:

o Planograms

o Planogram Notes

o Price Labels And / Or Price Strips

o Fixtures

o Signage

You can identify the correct box for your

project by referencing the “Push Date” which

is located on the white label on the outside

of the “Fulfillment Box”.

4

Shipment Tracking

The Fulfilment Box that is shipped from Vestcom, direct to stores, is shipped via Fed Ex. When

available, Driveline will post Fed Ex tracking information to your Work Order. Other projects may also

have tracking as well, so always check your Work Order to see if tracking is provided.

• When shipped via Fed Ex, simply click on the tracking number it will link you to the Fed Ex

website where you will see the date the box arrived at the store and who signed for the box.

“Hold For Driveline” Area

Materials needed should be located in a Driveline specified section of the store. Most stores have this

Driveline area marked with a green posted labeled “Hold For Driveline”.

Some stores may have materials kept in other parts of the store listed below. Be sure to check all

areas and always speak with the MOD if you cannot locate the materials.

Managers Office Breakroom Receiving Room Office Lounge Backroom Areas

Dollar General Planograms & Price Labels

Upon completion of a reset, cut-in or project, the section of the store should look “Just Like The

Picture” (JLP) shown on the front page of the planogram packet. Always look at the set when you are

done. If it doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t, and you need to make the necessary corrections.

5

Reading Planograms & Price Labels

Planograms should be read from “left to right” and “top to bottom”.

1. Planogram Number

2. Planogram Name Including:

o Size - 4 feet wide by 78 inches tall (4x78)

o Fixture Type - Gondola (GO)

3. Effective Date

o First date planogram can be set

4. Special Fixture or Planogram Information

Peg Hole Counts For Peghook Placement

D = Number of holes down from the first open peg

hole at the top of the pegboard to place the peghook

A = Number of holes across from the first open

peg hole on the left side of the pegboard to place

the peghook

Shelf Number & Slot Number For Shelf Placement

Slot number indicates which slot hole on the gondola fixture where the shelf should be placed.

o Slot numbers are counted from the bottom working up.

6

Determine the slot counts when adding or adjusting shelves:

Two most common

scenarios

New Item Placement

New Items are called out on the planogram with a green checkmark as shown below:

New Items

Facings

7

Fixtures Assignments & Discontinued Items

The Planogram will list any fixtures that are assigned and the discontinued items within the section.

How To Read A Price Label

1. UPC

2. Planogram Section And Shelf Number

3. Effective Date

4. Number Of Facings For Item

8

Non-Consumable Initiative (NCI) Planograms

NCI stores feature Zone Planograms and Planozone Planograms, which can be found within the

MAG Book. Because these planograms can only be found within the MAG Book, when you scan an

item that belongs in an NCI planogram it will show MAG as the item location.

Zone (Z) Planograms

• A section with a Zone Planogram contains all non-core items that are not seasonal.

• All merchandise is to be set by slot number or JLP (Just Like The Picture).

Planozones (POZ) Planograms

• A section with a Planozone Planogram contains a combination of core planogram items and

non-core items.

• The core merchandise is set to the planogram and the non-core items are to be set JLP.

9

Cooler / Freezer Units

Shelf Heights

Cooler / Freezer Planograms measure sheft spacing in inches (not notches like all other plangrams).

A measuring tape must be used to measure the “inches” in between each shelf as indicated on the

Planogram. New product is NOT available during the time of these resets, so using the

measurements on the Planogram are key to ensuring shelves will accommodate new items.

Cooler / Freezer Locations & Door Flow

Cooler / Freezer doors will either be located on the RIGHT or the LEFT side of a store. Before you

start any Cooler / Freezer reset, you MUST verify the location and flow of the cooler / freezer doors.

When walking into the store with the door behind you, determines if you are in a RIGHT or LEFT

store :

Cooler Doors on your LEFT = a LEFT store | Cooler Doors on your RIGHT = a RIGHT store

Measure from the top

of the first shelf to the

top of the next shelf.

10

Planograms

Cooler / Freezer planograms are written for a RIGHT store. IF your store has the cooler/freezer

doors on the LEFT side of the store, the flow of the doors will be reverse. In this case, only the doors

change order flow. The product within the doors remain the same as the planogram.

Defensive Door Terminology

A Defensive Door is a plastic door, anti-theft device, installed on the shelves in various sections of the

store. When opened, this door makes an alarm sound. The most common sections with defensive

doors can be found in:

11

Reset Expectations

1. Spray and wipe down all shelves including the base deck and label holders. (Courtesy Wipe)

• Ask the MOD to provide cleaner and towels.

2. Replace any damaged or missing plastic price label holders.

3. Use correct shelving and peghooks as indicated on the planogram.

• All planograms within the same aisle should have the same size shelves.

• 16 inch shelves are used on the walls.

• 14 inch shelves are used on the gondola.

• 22 inch shelves can be used on both walls and gondolas.

4. Place NEW item stickers in front of items indicated on the planogram.

5. Locate and place new product.

6. Clean up trash as directed by store personnel.

7. Review completed reset with the MOD. Obtain MOD signature.

8. Complete your work order.

• You must upload photo(s) of the completed reset.

• It is very important to take clear photos that are straight on so all product is visible.

12

Fixture Types

Gondola Warehouse Shelving

Wide - 4 FT | 3 FT

Deep - 14” | 16” |22”

13

Fencing

Helpful Tools to Bring from Home

The following tools may be needed during a visit. Project Instructions will identify projects that

require special tools:

Pliers Philips Head & Flat Head Screwdrivers Tape measure Rubber Mallet

14

Glossary - Common Dollar General Store Terminology

• OOS - Out Of Stock

• POP - Point Of Purchase

• POS - Point Of Sale

• ERC - Employee Response Center - Used by DG staff to report issues relating to the store.

• Planogram - Also known as a “Schematic” or “Modular”, it is a blueprint for a specific section of the

store.

• Price Label Strip - Paper strip on the shelf in front of items in a planogram which indicates specific

information about each item such as: description, price, shelf location, and effective date of the

price on the strip.

• Shelf Strip - Plastic holder which attaches to the front of the shelf to hold the price label strip.

• Sky Shelf - Shelf above the core planogram to place overstock product for the core planogram

below or near the area. A sky shelf will not have any prices indicated on the shelf strip.

• PDQ - Cardboard display containing product.

• UPC - Universal Product Code – 12 digit code located on product.

• Totes - Product may be shipped in totes direct from the DG DC (Distribution Center).

• UBoat - Type of cart used for transporting product from the backroom to the salesfloor.

• Rolltainer - Type of cart that can arrive form the DC truck filled with product also used to transport

product from backroom to salesfloor.