Master Essential Skills & Topics for Retail and CPG

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Promotion: New Analytics and Implications for Retailers and Manufacturers

Promotion: New Analytics and Implications for Retailers and Manufacturers

Promotion, as a driver of incremental sales, has expanded way beyond traditional flyers and coupons to include websites, targeted emails, social media, and retailer mobile strategy. Participants learn to use advanced data and technology to plan effectively for this new and expanding complexity in promotion planning.
Pricing: New Analytics, Issues, Challenges and Opportunities

Pricing: New Analytics, Issues, Challenges and Opportunities

Pricing is an important but complex tactic in category management because changes can have huge implications on sales and profit. As we continue to expand understanding on just how varied the response to price changes is, we can begin to understand the variables such as online shopping, price transparency, Shopper expectations, and value.
Shopper Marketing: Applying a New Tactic Into Category Management

Shopper Marketing: Applying a New Tactic Into Category Management

Shopper Marketing is a brand new tactic and needs special attention to understand how it can succeed and be analyzed alongside other tactics. Learners identify the requirements for successful Shopper marketing, and the importance of using Shopper insights to develop effective Shopper marketing solutions for retailers and their categories.
Deployment, Supply Chain, and ROI: Important Considerations For Long-Term Success

Deployment, Supply Chain, and ROI: Important Considerations For Long-Term Success

This final, but critically important, implementation step is often misunderstood or even forgotten — even though success of your entire category plan relies on effective deployment. Participants understand the most efficient and effective ways for deployment.
Developing Shopper-Based CatMan Foundations: Category Definition, Roles, and Strategies

Developing Shopper-Based Category Management Foundations

Well-defined category foundations provide the rules, guidelines, and strategies for a category’s success or failure by aligning to how the Shopper most likely views the category; how items are segmented; and a solid category decision tree. Participants learn how to assign Category Roles and Strategies with the Shopper in mind, including their emotional needs, and be more creative when it comes to defining Retailer strategies.
Building an Organizational CatMan Structure and Strategy From the Inside Out

Building an Organizational CatMan Structure and Strategy From the Inside Out


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: On-Demand Learning Category Management Strategy Master’s Level
According to CatMan 2.0™, interdependent roles should be in the same organization, which means Shopper Insights and Marketing belong within category management. Internal alignment cannot happen if the category management department is separated from the rest of your organization. Participants learn how to unify category and Shopper perspective, strategy, and understanding and how to measure ROI from your more sophisticated category management process and framework.
Assortment: New Shopper-Focused Metrics and Advanced Technologies

Space Management: Space Optimization and Advanced Technologies


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: On-Demand Learning Category Management Master’s Level Space Mgmt
Retailers can decide how much space different categories get, which impacts the number of items carried within a category assortment; OR they allocate space to specific categories based on the number of items or product range desired. Learners consider how new data sources, technologies, and analytics can be reflected in advanced space management best practices for shelving — now and in the future.
Assortment: New Shopper-Focused Metrics and Advanced Technologies

Assortment: New Shopper-Focused Metrics and Advanced Technologies

Product assortment is where large amounts of analytic time is spent since products not carried by a retailer can’t sell. Assortment analysis determines how to fit innovation into the product range. Participants inquire how to use new data sources, technologies, and analytics in advanced assortment, and consider the impact demand-based clustering and assortment.
Developing Shopper-Focused Category Management Scorecards

Developing Shopper-Focused Category Management Scorecards


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Scorecards On-Demand Learning Category Management Master’s Level
Category scorecards are a MUST HAVE for category plans for both Retailers and Manufacturers. That’s because every plan needs objectives by which organizations can measure success. Learners develop an advanced, Shopper-focused scorecard that includes category foundations, critical opportunities, and metrics that correlate best with opportunities.
The Why Assessment: Shopper Insight is the Missing Puzzle Piece

The Why Assessment: Shopper Insight is the Missing Puzzle Piece

One of the biggest changes and challenges is the integration of Shopper Insights into the Category Assessment to answer WHY they buy. Answer this very important question, and learn HOW to insert Shopper insights into assessments, review and analytics.
The What Assessment: Category Insights Using Advanced Data Sources

The What Assessment: Category Insights Using Advanced Data Sources


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Advanced Data On-Demand Learning Category Management Master’s Level
Category assessments are WHERE opportunities are identified primarily through the evaluation of historical data. There are many ways that assessments can be improved and enhanced to reflect the Shopper to incorporate more advanced data sources and analytics. Participants learn how to derive deeper category insights.
CatMan 2.0™ Introduction: What’s Changed?

CatMan 2.0™ Introduction: What’s Changed?


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: On-Demand Learning Category Management Master’s Level
The category management process has changed to reflect more complex and granular data, more complicated technologies, a more sophisticated Shopper, and an evolving retail Omni-Channel. Learners find out what the most important changes to the category management process are, why each of these changes was made, and the implications of these changes on their work. More importantly, they consider what they need to do differently to navigate the category management road ahead.
Building Excel Skills

Building Excel Skills


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Beginner Level Excel On-Demand Learning Training Course
Course Overview Participants have access to a set of mini-Excel courses that start “basic” and move up to “advanced” topics, while all the data examples used in these courses are appropriate to category management work. Participants learn to maximize their Excel skills across a broad range of topics, and they also benefit from the applied category management learnings provided in these courses. Topics reviewed include Range Names, Dynamic Range Names, Absolute and Relative References, Basic Formula Writing, Custom Formats, Custom Lists, Text Functions and VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP formulas. Approximately 2.5 hours course time (more time will be required for participants new to Excel)

Category Assessment


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Beginner Level Category Assessment On-Demand Learning Training Course
Course Overview Participants learn how course time a category assessment that includes “most” and “least” developed brands and segments, highest and lowest growth brands and segments, and benchmarking concepts. Workshops give the opportunity to review a category assessment and complete observations. This course includes calculations for Category $ Share, $ Sales % Chg, Absolute Sales Change, Share Pt Change, Retailer Share of Market, Index vs. ACV and ACV. Approximately 2.5 hours course time

Building Powerpoint and Presentation Skills

Course Overview Participants build their skills in technical and tactical functionality of PowerPoint and presentation skills. By understanding the fundamentals of PowerPoint, participants become more efficient in developing effective, succinct, and impactful presentations. The presentation skills included in this course allow participants to take their great PowerPoint presentations, and effectively present them to either internal or external audiences. This course is broken into 2 distinct parts, first focusing on PowerPoint skills, then on presentation development and delivery. Approximately 2.5 hours course time

Category Definition & Segmentation

Course Overview Participants learn to define a category from the shopper’s point of view and understand how category definition affects how the category is merchandised, priced, and promoted. Once the category is defined, it needs to be segmented based on a consumer decision tree. This sets up the category for effective analysis based on how the shopper shops the category. Key steps and varying methods are explored in completing these steps of the Category Management process. Approximately 2 hours course time

Category Management on Limited Data

Course Overview This course gives meaningful insights into maximizing data in a limited data environment. Participants review different report layouts and perspectives, based on limited data in different areas of the business. They learn about the importance of a trust between retailer and strategic trading partners to be successful in a limited data environment, with participants completing the course having examples that they can take back to their desks as examples. The tactics will also be included in the analytics, with suggestions on how to gather and analyze the data for meaningful insights. Approximately 2 hours course time

Category Roles


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Beginner Level Category Roles On-Demand Learning Training Course
Course Overview This course gives an understanding of the importance of the category roles based on the purpose of the category for a specific retailer. Participants learn how assigning a category role to each category allows retailers to strategically lay out their stores and help with tactical decision making through pricing, promotion, placement and product availability. Approximately 2 hours course time

Category Strategies


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Beginner Level Category Strategies On-Demand Learning Training Course
Course Overview Participants learn how retailers can take category roles one step further, by assigning strategies to each category. These strategies help the retailer to define the purpose of each category in the store, beyond the category role. The strategies consider how the consumer shops, the image of the retailer, and the competitive nature of the categories. Participants will understand how these category strategies dictate more detail surrounding the tactics that relate to each category. Approximately 2 hours course time

Category Tactics and Analytics

Course Overview This course reviews each of the tactics, or “4 Ps” (product assortment, product placement, pricing and promotion). Each tactic’s definition, measurement, and basic analytics are included. Specific calculations for “Share per Item”, “Item Share”, “Wtd Distribution”, “Sales per Point of Distribution”, “Shelf Share”, “Feature Share”, “Gross Margin”, “Penny Profit”, and “Avg. Unit Price vs. Avg.Tonnage Price” are included. Approximately 2.5 hours course time

Develop and Implement a Category Plan


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Beginner Level Category Plan On-Demand Learning Training Course
Course Overview In this course, participants learn that although this is the last step of the category management process, it is also the most important. After all the category management work is done and the category plan is complete, successful execution of the plan in stores is critical to the success of the entire plan. This course gives examples of what is included in a category plan and explains the important considerations to ensure successful execution of the plan at store level. Approximately 2.5 hours course time
Increasing your Effectiveness in an Analytical World

Increasing your Effectiveness in an Analytical World


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: CPCA Beginner Level On-Demand Learning Category Management
Many category management professionals end up in a very tactical role that results in them pulling and compiling data, with little room left for analyzing the data and becoming more strategic in their role. The opportunity is to become more strategic by learning where participants are spending too much time doing unimportant work and making some usually simple changes to free up some time for that more strategic work that they’ve always meant to get to.

Retailer Strategy

Course Overview Participants increase their understanding of what is included in a retailer’s overall strategy, and the importance of being able to understand and articulate the strategy (from both a retailer’s and supplier’s perspective). Retailer strategy has a significant impact on category management, and needs to be defined across different buckets, including retail format, target consumer, competitive environment and private label or no name. Each of these areas will be reviewed in detail. A hands-on workshop allows participants to define the strategy for a specific retailer that they either work for, or that is their client. Approximately 2 hours course time

Understanding and Using Data

Course Overview This course gives participants a solid foundation of considerations when using data, including properly citing references, using proper analytic techniques, only presenting relevant data, etc. It includes an 8-step analytic process that helps to plan out an analytic project before completing an analysis project, to save time and effort, and have a more successful outcome, as well as provides an overview of the different types of standard data (including retail POS, retail measurement data, consumer panel data and “other” data. There is emphasis on how all data sources are collected. Within each data source, the strengths & watch outs are identified, along with some basic measures available from the data source. Approximately 2 hours course time
Building Data Competency: Panel Data

Building Data Competency: Panel Data

Course Overview
Building Data Competency: POS Data

Building Data Competency: POS Data

Course Overview Learners get an in-depth look at retail POS data, including retailer and third-party scanned sales data, and learn how the data is derived and understand key measures and definitions that relate to POS data. Trends, out of stocks, sales and profitability, distribution and shopper insights will be reviewed in retail POS data, so that participants learn how to maximize its potential. This includes calculations like Calculate shelf capacity, comp stores, gross margin, markup, initial markup, markdown, and margin. Approximately 2 hours course time
Measuring Category Health

Measuring Category Health

Course Overview Participants learn how course time a category health assessment, including an exploration of internal and external influences. An in-depth understanding of baseline and incremental sales volume, drivers and measures are included in this assessment. Participants acquire the ability to address important questions that relate to a category’s health, including those associated with the consumer, trends, the economy, competition, and tactics associated with winning segments and brands. A SWOT analysis introduced as means to captures the most important strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the category as the health assessment is completed. Calculations include seasonality index, quadrant analysis, baseline sales and incremental sales measures, tactics % change results, temporary price reduction, and shopper measures. Approximately 4 hours course time

Retailer Economics and the Product Supply Chain

Course Overview

Fact-Based Selling

Course Overview
Store Clustering Through Store Level and Geodemographic Data

Store Clustering Through Store Level and Geodemographic Data

Course Overview

Advanced Analytics: Relativity


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: On-Demand Learning Analytics Work Training Course Intermediate Level
Course Overview
Promotion Analysis Techniques

Promotion Analysis Techniques

Course Overview
Pricing Strategies and Analysis Techniques

Pricing Strategies and Analysis Techniques

Course Overview Participants review retailer strategies that relate to pricing, including price setting definitions and price rules for the retailer. It covers how prices are set, including promotional and new product pricing. The second half of the course captures a variety of advanced pricing analytic techniques, including breakeven point, correlation and price regression, activity-based costing and slope. Participants learn many different techniques used to assess retailer pricing. Approximately 2.5 hours income
Space Management Fundamentals

Space Management Fundamentals


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: On-Demand Learning Training Course Space Mgmt Intermediate Level
Course Overview
Efficient Assortment: A Step-by-Step Process

Efficient Assortment: A Step-by-Step Process

Course Overview Efficient assortment is the analytical process that fits within product assortment, and within the category management framework. It is an enabler to the other steps within the category management plan. Participants learn about retailer assortment strategies, and the importance of understanding these strategies before moving into any type of assortment work, then learn the steps course time a manual assortment project, which will give them foundation from which they can either build their own assortment capabilities or better understand the assortment tools being used in their own organization. In this course, basic and intermediate techniques of assortment analytics are reviewed. Approximately 2.5 hours course time

Category Management Overview


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Beginner Level On-Demand Learning Category Management Training Course
Course Overview Category management is the retailer/supplier process of managing categories as strategic business units, producing enhanced business results by focusing on delivering consumer value. Category management provides strategic businesses approaches and analytics that benefit sales, marketing and category management professionals to understand. If participants are working in a category management environment, they need to understand the whole process, from a big picture perspective. Approximately 1.5 hours course time

Changing Shopper Behavior During & After the Pandemic

This course provides new and relevant insights into changing Shopper behaviors as a result of COVID-19 and different perspectives on the implications for future business. We also introduce a COVID-19 Resources Tool to help learners to navigate through the rapidly changing shopper and industry.
Shopper Insights amid pandemic

The Latest and Greatest Shopper Insights Data

In today’s world, both retailers and manufacturers must gain a deep understanding of shopper needs and behaviors to better inform their marketing activity. This requires organizations to move beyond traditional data sources into some new and exciting data. In this course, through collaboration with some top Shopper data/insights solution providers in North America, we provide some case study examples of new data, measures and insights available for a deeper Shopper understanding. Some of the impacts of the COVID-19 virus are also addressed.

Evaluating and Managing Risk In Your Business

Risk analysis is a process that helps to identify and manage potential problems that could undermine key business initiatives or projects. Participants may work for an organization who is encouraging them to “take risks”, however may not be giving them the roadmap to help to do that and feel comfortable with their decisions. In this course, we share the steps course time a risk analysis to give learners more confidence in the choices they make.
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Story Telling, More Than Just Fact Based Selling


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
Category management has changed since its introduction over 30 years ago. So how do the solutions/data/technologies that learners sell fit within the new category management framework? CatMan 2.0 (developed by the CMA) provides a framework and guidelines for a new category management approach. We walk learners through a new learning platform that we rolled out in 2017 that includes a solution provider component (both from an educational and a training perspective), as well as learning how participants can get better educated in the future of category management and how they can help the industry move forward.

Rocking Your Presentations in PowerPoint Part 2


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Presentations Instructor-Led Course
Participants learn how to save time and make presentations look better, slicker, and more compelling; how to get people to say "yes" to their ideas. In the first course (511), we explore some tips & tricks to help create better presentations in less time. In the second (520), we show some lesser-known PowerPoint tips and how-to’s that will further develop learner’s presentation skills with better-looking slides, charts, and tables to will improve your presentations and really help you Rock Your PowerPoint!

Rocking Your Presentations in PowerPoint Part 1


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Presentations Instructor-Led Course
Participants learn how to save time and make presentations look better, slicker, and more compelling; how to get people to say "yes" to their ideas. In the first course (511), we explore some tips & tricks to help create better presentations in less time. In the second (520), we show some lesser-known PowerPoint tips and how-to’s that will further develop learner’s presentation skills with better-looking slides, charts, and tables to will improve your presentations and really help you Rock Your PowerPoint!

Moving to More Strategic, Fact-based Presentations Using Storyboarding


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
Presentation skills continue to be an area that we can all improve on, and it’s a topic that we’ve been working on with a lot of clients through live and course-based training sessions. In this course, we give learners some great tips on ways to draw insights and craft better stories through fact-based presentations, and will share a new storyboarding tool that's hot off the press to help learners develop their own!

Seasonality Analysis For Your Post Season Holiday Evaluation


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
Seasonal merchandising represents one of the biggest opportunities for retailers to increase GM sales, profits and customer count. To realize its potential, it requires focused attention, with an opportunity to follow a category management process to create a strategic approach to a learners most seasonal categories. The definition of “seasonal events” has expanded with changes in the Shopper and their ethnographies, changing weather patterns and any other events that reflect periodic, unique merchandising opportunities. In this course, participants learn how to apply the foundations of category management to your seasonal pre- and post-planning and analysis to drive sales and profits in these important categories.

Developing Your Soft Skills


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
Having the technical skills and knowledge to successfully execute one’s job duties is only one part of being the best they can be in the workplace. In addition to these “hard” skills, we also need “soft” skills. Soft skills are those skills that allow us to effectively work with others. No matter what the position, organization, or industry, we work with people! In this course, we explore how taking the time to build effective soft skills can contribute to a more efficient, more harmonious, and more productive workplace, as well as to one’s own overall job happiness and satisfaction.

Ways to Identify Growth Opportunities In Your Business


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
In today’s business environment, sustaining growth and profitability can be a difficult task. There are shortened product life cycles; business models change and new competitors appear (particularly in the online space). This constant instability makes it necessary to more strategically seek new ways to grow your business. In this course, participants learn some different ways to find growth opportunities in their business.

Trends That Will Affect Category Management


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
There’s no longer a straightforward business industry model or shopper path to purchase, that’s traditionally been based on strong brands and mutually beneficial retail partnerships. In this course, we cover some of the key trends on Shopper, Workplace, Marketing and Data/Technology and talk about some of the implications they may have on category management now and in the future.

CatMan 2.0™ Introduction: What’s Changed?


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
How are you keeping up with the rapidly-changing Shopper and Omni-Channel?

What Happened With The Shopper and Where Are We Headed In The Future?


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
Get perspective on some of the biggest changes in Shopper, omni-channel, and the retail industry through leading-edge industry data sources and solution providers, as well as a glimpse at where things are expected to go in the future. During the course, Sue will share real-world examples and resources that will help learners think about how these changes might affect them, their role, and their company.

Category Management in eCommerce


*Training Topics, Format, or Audience: Instructor-Led Course
Have you adapted your category management approach for the eCommerce space?
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