Have you ever reviewed a category plan with plenty of analysis and recommendations, but found yourself asking: “How does this connect to what the retailer is trying to achieve?”

It’s easy to jump into the numbers—or straight to assortment, pricing, and promotions. But before we decide what to change, we need to understand what we’re working toward.

Who is the retailer trying to serve? What makes its offer different? And what does this particular category need to contribute?

These questions are the foundation of a useful category plan. They give retailers and suppliers a shared starting point for making better decisions.

Start with the retailer’s direction

“Grow sales” doesn’t give a team much direction on its own. Neither does “deliver value.” What does value mean to this retailer’s shoppers—and how should that influence the choices we make?

Before getting into category recommendations, consider:

• Target shoppers and shopping missions: Who shops here, and what are they trying to accomplish?
• Format and channels: How do stores, online shopping, pickup, and delivery meet those needs?
• Competitive positioning: Why would someone choose this retailer over another?
• Private brand priorities: What part do the retailer’s own brands play in value, differentiation, and choice?
• Business priorities: Where does the business need to improve—growth, profitability, availability, the shopping experience, or a combination?

You don’t need a lengthy strategy document to start this conversation. You do need enough clarity for people to understand how those priorities affect their work.

Keep the foundations connected to the whole process

In CMKG’s category management process we connect three ongoing activities: Build the Category Plan, Activate the Plan, and Measure & Optimize.

CMKG's category management approach:  strategic foundations guide planning, activation, and ongoing optimization.

Around that cycle sit the foundations that guide the work: retail strategy, target shopper, category roles and goals, category structure, guidelines and processes by format, and store brand—or private brand—strategy.

These foundations matter throughout the process. When we review results or consider a new opportunity, we should come back to them: Does this still fit our direction? Have shopper needs changed? Do we need to adjust?

Translate that direction into category choices

Once the retailer’s direction is clear, we can consider what it means for each category.

Start with how shoppers understand and shop the category. Does its definition and structure make sense from their perspective? Then clarify its role within the retailer’s overall offer.

The category role explains why the category matters. The category strategy explains how it will contribute.

Depending on that purpose, we might focus on attracting shoppers, building loyalty, making routine purchases easier, growing baskets, creating differentiation, or improving profitability.

Now the analysis has a job to do. We can assess performance, look at shopper evidence, identify gaps, and decide which opportunities deserve attention. From there, we set measurable objectives and refine the strategy.

The category plan brings those choices together through assortment, pricing, promotion, space, and execution—with clear actions, responsibilities, and measures.

Here’s what that might look like

Imagine a retailer whose promise is convenient everyday shopping for busy households.

For an everyday essentials category, the priority might be to make routine purchases easy and dependable. Shoppers should be able to find what they need quickly and trust that it will be available.

Now someone recommends adding more products.

That might be a good opportunity. But before agreeing, I’d want to ask:

• Are we meeting a shopper need that the current range misses?
• Will the extra choice help people—or make the shelf harder to navigate?
• What happens to shelf capacity and availability for our core items?
• Can stores execute and replenish the new range reliably?

A smaller, clearer range with stronger availability might serve the strategy better. Or the evidence might support adding something missing. We need to work through the trade-offs.

The same questions extend online. Can shoppers find the products? Is the information useful? Does availability match what we promise? A convenient experience needs to hold together across the shopping journey.

Give people something they can use

One thing I encourage teams to consider is whether their strategy is clear enough for someone else to apply.

Could a colleague in buying, insights, marketing, supply chain, or store operations explain what it means for their decisions? Could a supplier use it to develop a relevant recommendation?

For retailers, that means sharing useful direction and practical guidelines.

For suppliers, it means asking good questions and looking beyond your own brands. How does your recommendation help the retailer, its shoppers, and the category—and where does your business contribute?

Those connections make for a much stronger conversation.

Give the scorecard a purpose, too

If categories have different roles and priorities, their scorecards should reflect that.

Sales and profit still matter. But if we’re trying to make everyday shopping more dependable, we also need to pay attention to measures such as availability of essential items.

Before approving a plan, ask:

1. Which retailer priority does this support?
2. Which shopper need does it address?
3. How does it fit the category’s role, objectives, and strategy?
4. What evidence supports it—and what are we still assuming?
5. What needs to happen across teams to make it work?
6. How will we know whether it worked, and when will we review it?

If the answers are unclear, take a step back. More analysis won’t necessarily resolve a missing strategic connection.

And once the plan is in place, keep learning from it. Review the results, question the assumptions, and adjust where needed.

Build a shared foundation for better category decisions

This is why I believe foundational learning matters across teams. People need to understand how retailer strategy, shopper needs, category roles, and commercial decisions connect—and what that means in their own work.

CMKG’s Understand the Retail Environment learning track includes Fundamentals of Category Management, helping retailer and supplier teams build that shared understanding.

We bring together online modules, facilitated virtual or classroom sessions, and practical application. We can also incorporate your organization’s strategies, tools, processes, and examples, so people can connect what they learn to the decisions they make every day.

Explore Our Learning Approach

Have a particular challenge or learning need in mind? Let’s discuss what would work for your team.