Category Strategy and Scorecards

The direction you need to achieve your goals.

You’ve completed a category review or category assessment, ultimately identifying your biggest areas of opportunity to help you achieve your target goals and objectives in the category.

Now what? 

The tendency to jump from the category assessment and opportunity identification to fixing the tactics and finalizing the category plan is common. But this approach can lead to failure of the entire category plan.

Both Retailers and Manufacturers need category strategies and scorecards tied in with their business to help them better plan and measure success to achieve their overall goals.

Incorporating strategies and a strategically developed category scorecard provides a bridge between opportunity identification and implementation.

Don’t Skip Assigning Category Strategies

Assigning category strategies is often a step that is not well understood and can ironically get skipped in category management. Lack of category strategies results in a lack of direction for the category – and you can’t possibly choose the right tactics to create action in the category without well defined strategies. 

Remember, your strategies should be derived from the biggest opportunities identified in the category assessment.

Two Category Strategies once your Assessment is complete:

Increase $ Spent by Premium Shopper

The assessment highlighted an underdevelopment in this highly loyal Shopper group. The strategy is to load shoppers by encouraging multiple items per trip and trading them up to the premium segment.

Increase Loyalty of Pet Owners

Shoppers of pet products at the Retailer are leaking $ at a high rate relative to similar categories. The opportunity is to improve loyalty of pet owners through improved assortment offerings and emphasis on more premium products.

What else?

Strategies may also be more traditional (CatMan 1.0) like increasing store traffic (or traffic builder) through aggressive promotions, display and price.

Get your scorecards ready!

Once you’ve assigned category strategies, you can create a scorecard that monitors your progress toward accomplishing your strategic objectives. At its highest level, think of a scorecard as a strategic planning document that links activities to the category strategies. 

What should a Category Scorecard DO?

  • Monitor progress to ensure that you’re going to accomplish the strategic objectives in the category plan.
  • Include regular reviews of the business that includes key performance indicators (KPIs)
  • Measurement of how your organization is doing against pre-defined goals or targets.

What can’t a Category Scorecard DO?

  • Your category scorecard is NOT the same as corporate monthly reports that measure overall business results.
Learn what you need to create a Category Scorecard that helps meet your organization’s goals with our Category Management Scorecard for Retailers or Category Management Scorecard for Manufacturers.

Remember to ask these important questions when it comes to Category Scorecards and Strategies —

What’s happening in the category? 

Where are my opportunities? 

How can I implement successfully?

 

Topics: Category Management, Executive Solutions, Supplier Solutions, Space Mgmt

Written by 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!