Plan-o-grams for South African Online Stores: A Simple Guide
July 31, 2026 · 16 min read · Dylan Klichowicz
Think of a plan-o-gram as a simple map for your online store. It shows you exactly where to put each product to get more people to see it and buy it. It’s a basic plan that turns a messy page of products into an organised, money-making display.
This is not just for big shops like Checkers or Woolworths. It works just as well for a small Shopstar jewellery brand, someone selling crafts in Cape Town, or any new online shop in South Africa.
Table of Contents
- What is a Plan-o-gram?
- Why Your Sales Data is Better Than Your Gut Feeling
- Turning Shop Logic into an Online Catalogue
- How to Lay Out Your Shopstar Store Step-by-Step
- How to Know If It's Working (And What to Do If It's Not)
- Frequently Asked Questions About Plan-o-grams
What is a Plan-o-gram?
When you get it right, a plan-o-gram helps your online store in three ways:
- It makes your best-selling products easy for customers to find, which helps you make more sales.
- It gives your most profitable products the best spots on the page, which is good for your cash flow.
- It helps you sell items that aren't moving by keeping them out of the main spotlight.
Imagine you're a jewellery maker in Cape Town. You could put your rings first on a collection page, then the matching necklaces, and then your special gift sets. This layout gently encourages people to buy more than one thing without being pushy.
Key takeaway: Plan-o-grams help you make decisions based on what’s actually selling, not just guessing.
Why Planning is Better Than Guessing
Still not sure? Let’s compare just putting products anywhere versus planning it out.
| Feature | Just Adding Products | Using a Plan-o-gram |
|---|---|---|
| Bestsellers are easy to find | No | Yes |
| How fast stock sells | Slow | Faster |
| What you need to know | Not much | Your sales numbers and profit |
| Time to set up | Quick but messy | A bit longer, but makes more money |
As you can see, taking a little extra time to plan pays off.
You don't need fancy software to start. Just look at your Shopstar analytics: how many people view a product, how many add it to their cart, and how many sales you've made. That's all you need to create a basic plan-o-gram.
This is related to 'assortment planning', which is just a fancy way of saying "choosing what products to sell". You can learn more about this from this resource on competitive data for retail assortment.
A Practical Tip for Your SA Store
Here in South Africa, renting a physical shop or paying for ads is expensive. Think of your online store's pages like valuable shop space.
Put your best-selling, beautifully photographed items at the top of your collection pages. This is the first thing people see. Make sure the products that sell well locally are the first thing shoppers on their phones see. This simple plan helps you make more sales, which means more rands in your pocket.
Why Your Sales Data is Better Than Your Gut Feeling
If you're a small business owner in South Africa, you can't afford to just put your favourite products in the best spots. Your sales numbers, profit margins, and how quickly items sell tell a much clearer story. Your Shopstar dashboard is the best place to start when planning your layout — not your gut feeling.
Finding the Right Signals in Your Shopstar Data
Start by looking at the views and 'add-to-cart' rate for each product. Then, check how many you've sold in the last 30 to 90 days. Finally, look at your profit margin to make sure you're not giving the best spots to low-profit items.
- Make a simple list of your top 10 selling products from the last 60 days.
- Put a star next to anything with a low profit margin. These shouldn't get the top spots.
- Notice products with high views but few sales — they probably need better photos or descriptions.
Data tip: Look at the last 60 days for seasonal items (like winter scarves) and the last 30 days for things that sell all year round. This gives you a good balance.
Think of Your Online Store Like a Shop Shelf
Imagine your collection page is a shelf with three sections: top, middle, and bottom. The top is your prime real estate — put your bestsellers and high-profit items there, where people on their phones will see them first. The middle section is great for items that go well with your bestsellers.
Most people click on the first two rows, so put your best 4–6 products there. Use the bottom rows to test new products or sell slow-moving items with a discount.
This simple setup helps you avoid having stock that doesn't sell and protects your cash — something every small shop in South Africa needs.
Think About How Your Customers Shop
If you notice many customers in your area leave their carts at checkout, maybe don't put big, low-profit bundles front and centre. If you know shipping takes longer to certain suburbs, highlight products you have in stock locally for faster delivery. These small changes make your store work better for your specific customers.
- Promote lighter jewellery that can be sent via same-day courier.
- If an item takes a while to get, say so in the product title to manage expectations.
Practical insight: Just moving a popular necklace above a slow-selling ring can boost your weekly sales. It’s worth a try.
A Quick Experiment to Get Started
Pick one collection in your store. Rearrange the products based on which ones sell the most and make the most profit. Keep it that way for two weeks and see if more people add items to their cart and buy them. If it works, do the same for another collection.
Using data to plan your layout like this keeps your store efficient, frees up your cash, and makes every rand count for your growing Shopstar business.
Turning Shop Logic into an Online Catalogue
A plan-o-gram is just a map of a shop shelf that you use for your online store. You're deciding which products show up first, which ones sit next to each other, and how much space each one gets on the screen.
Let's say you have a small jewellery brand in Johannesburg. You could show your rings first, then necklaces, and then gift sets. This order gently encourages customers to look at matching pieces and might make them spend more, without any pressure.
Map Your Collection Like a Shelf
Start by listing your products. Mark your top 6 based on sales and profit. These are your most important products.
- Place those 4–6 items at the top of the page so shoppers on their phones see them right away.
- In the rows below, place items that go well with your top sellers to encourage people to buy a bundle.
- Keep your groupings simple. For example, if you sell beaded bracelets, you could group them by colour, or by occasion like gifts, everyday wear, or seasonal styles.
Insight: Give the best spots to items that both sell well and make you a good profit.
This kind of organisation helps shoppers find what they're looking for faster and makes it more likely they'll add a second or third item to their cart.
A Simple Template to Sketch Your Digital Shelf
Grab a piece of paper and draw three rows to represent what a shopper sees on their phone. Put your bestsellers and high-profit items in the top spots. Then, add 2–3 items that go with them in the rows below.
That simple sketch is your first plan-o-gram. It's quick, costs nothing, and is perfect for small business owners who like to keep things simple.
Test and See What Works
Try out your new layout on one collection for two weeks. Keep an eye on how many people add items to their cart and how many complete a purchase. If sales improve, use that same layout for similar collections. If lots of people are looking but not buying, maybe you need better photos or a clearer description.
Get your views, add-to-cart rate, and sales numbers from your Shopstar analytics. These numbers will tell you exactly which products deserve the best spots.
Practical Example for a Jewellery Brand
- Top row: Your 4 bestselling rings.
- Middle row: 3 necklaces that match those rings.
- Bottom row: 2 gift boxes and jewellery care kits.
This order encourages a shopper who likes a ring to also consider a matching necklace, which can increase the total value of their purchase.
Tip: If you can deliver certain items faster to big cities like Johannesburg or Cape Town, highlight this. It can stop people from leaving their carts because of long delivery times.
For a deeper look at building an effective online store, check out our 2026 guide to SA online stores.
You might also find Shopstar's help article useful for getting your collections set up: Learn more about organising collections on Shopstar.
Use this simple "shelf-to-screen" method to make your online store organised, easy to browse, and designed to sell.
How to Lay Out Your Shopstar Store Step-by-Step
Start with one collection that already sells well — whether it's jewellery, home decor, or anything else. Look at your views, 'add-to-cart' rate, and sales for the last 30 to 60 days right in your Shopstar account. This tells you exactly which products have earned the best spots on your page.
Write down your top six products based on sales and profit. Then, on a piece of paper, sketch three rows for how it will look on a phone: top, middle, and bottom. Place your top four to six products in the top row, and add a few matching items next to them.
How to Arrange Products for Better Sales
Group items based on how they are used, not just by colour or size. A jewellery brand, for example, could have groups like "everyday rings," "date-night necklaces," and "gift sets." This helps shoppers find what they want without much effort and gently encourages them to buy more than one item.
- Give the best spots to your high-profit bestsellers.
- Use the middle rows for matching items that can be bundled together.
- Use the bottom rows for slow-moving items, new products you're testing, or items on sale.
Quick tip: Be clear about delivery times in your product titles. This helps local buyers know what to expect and reduces the number of abandoned carts.
Before you start changing your collections, go through this quick checklist:
- List your products with their views, 'add-to-cart' rates, and sales numbers.
- Mark items with a low profit margin as less important.
- Choose four to six key products to feature at the top of the page.
- Sketch your layout and note which products go well together.
- Use Shopstar’s drag-and-drop feature to arrange your products and publish the changes.
Testing and Rotating Your Products
Try the new layout for two weeks and compare your 'add-to-cart' and sales rates. If more people are adding items to their cart, keep the layout or use it for other similar collections. If views are high but sales are low, you might need better photos or a stronger product description.
- Change your featured items every month to keep things fresh, especially for seasonal products.
- For items that sell fast all year round, check their performance every week.
- For seasonal items, review them every 45 to 60 days.
Data point: Testing one small change in one collection makes it easier to see what’s working.
Practical Examples You Can Use Today
- Jewellery shop: Top row for rings, middle row for necklaces, bottom row for gift boxes.
- Home decor shop: Top row for trending items, middle for room sets, bottom for clearance items.
Keep your changes small and consistent. The goal isn't perfection — it's steady, smart changes that lead to real sales growth over time.
For more on store layout, you might find this guide helpful: Read also: Store Design And Layout On Shopstar.
How to Know If It's Working (And What to Do If It's Not)
So you've rearranged your products — now what? You need to know if it's actually making a difference. On Shopstar, I watch three key numbers: collection views, add-to-cart rate, and bounce rate.
Think of it this way: views tell you if people are looking, add-to-cart shows if they're interested, and bounce rate shows if your layout makes them stay or leave. Check these weekly for your bestsellers, and every 45–60 days for seasonal items. This helps you spot trends without getting lost in the details.
This picture shows five simple steps to turn your sales data into a working plan-o-gram that changes as your store grows. Regularly checking your layout and making small, smart tweaks usually leads to better sales. It might not be a huge jump overnight, but you'll see steady improvement.
Quick Fixes for Common Problems
Sometimes things don't go as planned. Here’s what I check first:
- Lots of views but few sales? Your photos or product titles probably need work. Bad pictures can kill a sale instantly.
- 'Add-to-cart' rate drops after you change something? Go back to the old layout and test just one change at a time to find the problem.
- More people leaving your site quickly? Check how your store looks on a phone. A cluttered page can overwhelm shoppers, and they won't stick around.
Tip: If most of your customers shop on their phones, try to keep your collections under 30 products. Too many choices can be confusing.
How to Avoid Common Mistakes
Here are a few habits that will save you a lot of trouble:
- Stick to simple layouts and change your featured items every month. An out-of-date shop feels stale.
- Don't try to cram every product into one collection. Split them into groups based on how they're used. It helps people decide.
- Make sure your website layout matches what you show on your Instagram and WhatsApp catalogues. Consistency builds trust.
Checking If a Layout Change Worked
When you're testing something new, follow these simple steps:
- Get your views, 'add-to-cart' rate, and sales numbers from Shopstar.
- Make just one change to one collection.
- Let it run for 14 days and compare the numbers.
That's it — no need to overcomplicate things.
Read also: How to read Shopstar sales reports and analytics
Frequently Asked Questions About Plan-o-grams
What free tools can I use to create a plan-o-gram for my Shopstar store?
You don't need fancy software. A simple spreadsheet is perfect for listing your products with their sales numbers and profit. You can get all the data you need from your Shopstar analytics. Then, you can sketch your layout on paper or use free tools like Google Sheets or Canva to create a visual plan.
How often should I change my layout for seasonal products?
For collections that change with the seasons, try to refresh them every 45–60 days. For your everyday bestsellers, a monthly update is usually enough. This keeps your store looking fresh without you having to make changes all the time.
Key takeaway: Small, regular changes are better than big, rare ones.
Do I need a plan-o-gram if I have less than 50 products?
Yes, definitely. Even with a small number of products, a good layout helps customers choose faster and gives you more chances to sell related items. Think of your best 4–6 sellers as your prime real estate — put them where people will see them first.
How do plan-o-grams work with Shopstar and social media?
Make sure the order of products on your Shopstar collections matches what you show on your Instagram product lists and WhatsApp catalogues. This keeps your message consistent everywhere. Use Shopstar's drag-and-drop tool to set up your layout, then test it for 14 days to see if your sales improve. If it works, use that layout for other collections too.
Ready to try these ideas? Get started with Shopstar to apply these tips and see real results — https://www.shopstar.co.za
