Sue Nicholls, Founder & President CMKG

Embracing the Joy of Learning and Teaching. Hi there! I'm deeply passionate about training and learning. Since the pioneering days of category management at P&G in the '80s, I've been fortunate to embark on a journey of teaching and inspiring others. My career has been a delightful tapestry woven with long-term collaborations with major retailers and CPG executives, contributing to industry standards, and sharing insights at numerous conferences. I'm thrilled to have had the opportunity to shape minds as an Adjunct Professor in Marketing, focusing on consumer behavior.

150 Hours of Knowledge and Countless Moments of Insight. Creating over 150 hours of online curriculum and leading hundreds of instructor-led sessions has been an enriching experience. I've had the honor of collaborating with diverse professionals across the globe, adapting to an ever-evolving industry. The goal? To forecast the future and equip our learners with the skills to thrive and stay relevant.

Learning: A Collective Adventure. I believe learning is a dynamic journey that encompasses individuals, teams, organizations, and yes, even us training professionals. It's not about rigid methods but nurturing a continuous, evolving process. My aim through this blog and other platforms is to share my wealth of experience and encourage open, ongoing dialogues. Together, we can enhance any team's ability to implement effective business strategies and realize their strategic goals. Let's embark on this learning adventure together, growing and evolving with every shared experience! Happy learning!

Recent Posts

What’s in a Best-In-Class Category Review?

Category Reviews are an important output from category management teams. They are developed for different purposes, including both internal and external requests, and usually require pulling in data from multiple data sources. As data becomes more robust and complex and as the Shopper comes to the forefront, Category Reviews need to evolve to reflect these changes, but the truth is, they often don’t.
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The Future of Category Management: Why Things Need to Change

Consolidation is happening everywhere. Global Retailers are expanding. Drug stores are selling fresh food. Food stores and convenience stores are selling prepared meals. And Retailers and Suppliers / Manufacturers are selling in the omni channel. So what’s the Future of Category Management? What needs to change?
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Category Management Certification: 5 Questions to Ask Before Starting

Are you thinking about Category Management Certification? Category Management certification has been around for about 7 years now, with professional standards, certification levels and requirements developed by the Category Management Association. Many retail and vendor/manufacturer organizations, solution providers and individuals have supported and invested in certification since Donna Frazier (the founder of the CMA) started with a vision many years ago. So how do you decide whether certification is right for you? Use these 5 questions …
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Top 10 Ways to Use Category Management in Retail (Small- to Mid-Size)

For the past 4 weeks I’ve been blogging and getting feedback from Small- to Mid-Sized Retailers on overall retail strategy and category management practices and approaches. I originally broached this subject based on a theory I had developed through one-on-one client training, professional speaking engagements, and larger discussions via social media. But being a data-driven person, I wanted to test my theory about this specific group of Retailers so I developed a series of anonymous, online surveys to collect more insight. Of note, the surveys were primarily filled out by Small- to Mid-Sized Retailers (<1000 stores) and we removed the large Retailers from the survey results for more specific results. Here they are:
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Retailers, How Successful Are Your Category Tactics? (Part 4 Results)

We’re into Week 4 of a 5-part blog series where I’ve been reviewing the key components of category management, followed by surveys where Retailers evaluate how well they are doing in the different components.
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Category Management in Retail Scorecard: Compare Part 3 Results

This week, we’ll walk through: the Category Assessment Results from last week’s evaluation (Part 3). Part 4 of the Evaluation: Analyzing Your Tactics to Turn Data Into Action.
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Category Management in Retail Scorecard: Compare Part 2 Results

My blog last week (Category Management in Retail Scorecard – Compare Part 1) reviewed overall results from our readers as they evaluated their organizations’ retail strategies and captured the biggest areas of opportunity for improvement. We also covered some of the foundations in category management required for Retailers to be successful in their category management approach. As a Retailer, YOU own and define your own unique process, driven by your internal Retail strategies. That’s why it’s critical to have well-defined processes and guidelines that consider the Key Components for Category Management. This week, we’ll walk you through last week’s results AND explain the next part of the evaluation — Part 3: Assessing Your Categories For Gaps & Opportunities.
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Category Management in Retail Scorecard: Compare Part 1 Results

Last week’s blog (Category Management in Retail is changing — how are you keeping up?) explained why Retailers need to have well-defined and articulated strategies and outlined what a solid strategy should include. Remember that strategies defining category management in retail create the foundation for achieving your goals and objectives as an organization. That’s why we included a questionnaire as part of last week’s post — so individuals can start to understand where opportunities exist. This week, we dive into the results first … Then, we explain the next part of the evaluation — Part 2: Own Your Category Management Approach.
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Category Management in Retail is changing — how are you keeping up?

The retail industry is changing. Retailers are vying for market share in an increasingly competitive environment. Shoppers are becoming more complex and demanding. Data and technology options are increasing in complexity with more and more big data. Channels are blurring. Retailers have a big opportunity to create well defined strategies and processes that will help align and guide their organizations so that they can achieve their goals and objectives. But where should you begin for category management in retail environments?
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4 Best Practices for Managing Seasonal Categories

What are some opportunities for you to move to a more strategic approach in your seasonal categories? Seasonal merchandising represents a huge incremental sales and profit opportunity for Retailers and Manufacturers. What are seasonal categories? “Seasonal events” have evolved and expanded with changes in the Shopper, weather patterns, and new events to include everything from annual holidays, to multicultural holidays, to celebration and annual events, to special community events, and even weather-related events. Some major seasonal events are starting much earlier than in the past. Retailers who want to stand out in the marketplace now run “hot” priced features well in advance of the seasonal event to establish their stores as the best destination for the season. There is also a stronger concentration of sales during the few days before seasonal events. To realize and maximize the full potential of seasonal sales, you should apply the principles of category management to your seasonal categories. I've put together 4 best practices for managing seasonal categories that incorporate category management strategies, including a rigorous analysis post season to continuously improve your seasonal category plans.
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