Working with many retailers around the world, I see first-hand the challenges they face when it comes to deciding where to invest to drive growth. Category management is a sometimes overlooked area that has a critical role to play in driving sales. Recognising this, good retailers seek out best practice and innovation to deliver improved category management. But, for anybody working in the category management space, there seems a distinct lack of direction coming from the discipline. One can’t help but feel that category management has lost its way. Articles entitled ‘Category management is dead’, ‘Category management 3.0’ and ‘From category management to shopper-centric retailing’ all point to the fact that category management in its traditional form has definitely passed its sell-by date.
It’s not that efficient management of categories isn’t relevant anymore - indeed it’s more relevant than ever, as loyal customers become more elusive. Rather it’s that the processes to deliver great category experiences have failed to capitalise on the explosion of data and, even more crucially, the customer science required to deliver actionable and accurate insights. Customer behaviour is now more complex, brand dynamics have evolved and multichannel retailing offers shoppers numerous touch points. In this new reality, customer science and an overhaul of the category management frameworks provide the key to creating great categories that deliver for the retailer, manufacturers and their customers.
We’re not proposing that a new approach means throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Much of the foundation of traditional category management remains relevant today. Rather like restoring an old car and installing a new engine, our approach to category leadership looks to reinvigorate the way retailers tackle category management. And as with the restored car, the end result may appear familiar but with greater power under the hood and up-to-date components, it will be able to deliver improved performance, exceptional handling and greater efficiency. And that’s what all retailers should be striving for.
To learn more about how to improve your Category Management, click here
