General Mills France Improves Hagen-Dazs Merchandising

Dassault Systemes announced that General Mills France, a subsidiary of General Mills, is deploying the “Perfect Shelf” to engage in new merchandising strategies for its Hagen-Dazs brand of ice cream.  
 
General Mills France looked to inject innovation into the retail ice cream category by offering a differentiated and expanded Hagen-Dazs product line. In March 2015, the company launched new ice cream stick bars in five flavors, developed following two years of consumer feedback, and wanted a powerful category management solution to support the project.
 
Few shoppers plan to buy ice cream before reaching the store.  Out of 120 product categories, ice cream is the 27th most impulsive purchase , and around 75 percent of category sales occur during the summer.  As a result, market growth relies heavily on product innovation—more than 80 new products are introduced on store shelves each year.  In addition to new flavors and formats, brands and retailers must consider strategic store aisle placement, shelving and product visibility to inspire consumer purchases.  

Based on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform, “Perfect Shelf” may help General Mills France demonstrate category merchandising expertise to retailers by recommending shelving scenarios, based on shopper research, that enhance its brand and increase the retailer’s category revenue.  
 
Leveraging advanced, cloud-based 3D modeling and visualization applications, General Mills France collaborates with mass-market retailers to provide realistic views of store aisles including shelves, fixtures, products, lighting and promotional materials, along with an immersive shopping experience from a consumer perspective. In this 3DEXPERIENCE universe, changes and approvals of assortment, product positioning, signage and promotional displays are made in real time, facilitating how they collaborate.  
 
With the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud, the shopping experience design process is more collaborative and takes place faster.
 
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