We’re all searching for better ways to tap into Shopper insights data to address the “why” in category management — why aren’t we finding it?

Today, many Manufacturers are spending more dollars than ever before on data, technology and Shopper understanding. While the complexity of the data and technology increases, resources are being cut, requiring us to do more with less.

How are you going to stay relevant in this rapidly changing industry? Category management practitioners, executives and solution providers all need plans to move to more advanced category management approaches to reflect changing data, technology and Shopper. As an experienced category management professional in Retail, Manufacturing or as a Solution Provider, you’ll need concrete ways to reflect the changes that have happened over the past 30 years. Here’s what you need to understand CatMan 2.0 from your point of view …

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.

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.

What is the strategic level of your team or organization when it comes to Space Planning and Efficient Assortment? Space planning and efficient assortment are BOTH very important for Retailers and Manufacturers — so why are they treated so tactically? Why don’t teams and organization consider more advanced shelving solutions and take full advantage of opportunities to reach the Shopper? Read on to find out some common mistakes on both sides.

How often do you think about the effect of your decisions or recommendations on a Retailer’s Income Statement? If not often, consider that matching what Retailers are trying to accomplish from a financial perspective will help Retailers make better decisions and Vendors make better recommendations.

Space Management has changed significantly over the past 20 years, but in many ways has stayed the same. What’s changed? Technology has improved significantly in space planning software. Data sources have become more plentiful, including store-level data, consumer data, and most recently, Shopper research data. There are also many things that have remained the same in space management for both Retailers and Manufacturers:

Learn how to build strategic thinking into your analysis to understand more advanced Shopper solutions I’ve been writing and speaking about the components of category management which relate directly to the Category Management Association’s certification requirements, including: Steps of the category management process and the importance of Retailer strategy; Key data sources available and the different data insights to uncover; Drilling through data (including in a limited data environment) to discover strategic insights; and Assessing the health of your business.

Do your presentations need a "facelift"? Start with the basics of visual communication and storytelling. Presentations have become the de facto business communication tool. Companies are started, products are launched, audiences are educated—in small or large part because of the quality of presentations. Likewise, ideas, endeavors and even careers can be cut short due to ineffective communication. Out of the millions of presentations delivered each day, only a small percentage are delivered really well. The reason for this is many of us lack visual communication skills. Most of us were never taught how to move from verbal expression to visual expression (or have ever taken a PowerPoint training course). As communicators, learning to create visual stories that connect with our audience is imperative. Turning category management data and analytics into a compelling PowerPoint presentation that engages an audience starts with the basics—you need to give equal attention to developing the visual story and to delivering the parts of the presentation!