What's truly happening in retail shopping aisles? There have been many studies conducted on consumer behaviour particularly when it comes to what motivates shoppers or consumers to buy into a particular brand or why they choose a particular retail format or store, but what motivates customers while they are in-store? After spending many years working for a number of different retailers from … [Read more...]
Category Management for Dummies
We often get asked to explain how category management works and why is it so complicated and drawn out, but in fact it doesn't need to be and when you understand what the key elements are, it's actually not that complicated at all! So how does category management differ from any other business process? Well in most cases it doesn't, that is, if your objective is to drive sales and you include a … [Read more...]
The Consumer Decision Tree
The Consumer Decision Tree explained Also called product hierarchies, consumer decision trees are graphical records which assist manufacturers and retailers to understand consumer buying habits and the decision-making processes followed by individuals while shopping a category The step before defining the Consumer Decision Tree (CDT) is defining the category, which plays an important role in how … [Read more...]
What is Category Management in CPG?
Category Management is the primary platform from which CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) brand owners interact with retailers. Category Management provides the language, process framework, and metrics for communicating all strategic and tactical recommendations to the retailer. Where did it start? Back in the early 90’s a process was developed to help retailers and suppliers manage the category … [Read more...]
Fast Track Category Management
Many people have asked "how do we speed up the Category Management process to take advantage of any quick wins or low hanging fruit?". Ideally you shouldn't shorten the process as it takes into account all the valid steps needed to properly analyse the situation and put a solid strategy in place to achieve your goals but when you break down the individual components of Category Management you … [Read more...]
The science that makes us spend more in supermarkets, and feel good while we do it
When you walk into a supermarket, you probably want to spend as little money as possible. The supermarket wants you to spend as much money as possible. Let battle commence. As you enter the store your senses come under assault. You will often find that fresh produce (fruit, vegetables, flowers) is the first thing you see. The vibrant colours put you in a good mood, and the happier you are the … [Read more...]
Has Category Management evolved?
Traditional category management is now an old concept in today’s very competitive market. Retailers need a new solution to enable the level of differentiation necessary to attract new shoppers and indeed keep their existing shoppers with an ever-growing number of competitors entering the market while ensuring they continue to meet the ever changing demands of today’s consumers. Retailers need to … [Read more...]
Should Manufacturers and Suppliers be more focused on Convenience?
Convenience in Ireland has always been popular with Irish consumers, maybe it’s due to our past and the link with the ‘corner shop’ or maybe it’s due to the vast array of very well developed convenience formats in Ireland, either way its here to stay and back in growth. As with other channels the big players are getting bigger and expanding (Leading operators like Centra and Spar continue to add … [Read more...]
Are forecourts of the future doomed?
After spending many years in forecourt retailing and having being part of the original team who brought forecourt retailing to a new height back in the days of the Statoil fairplay brand in Ireland I've kept a close eye on it's changes over the years The move from fuel to food and quality coffee was inevitable With shrinking margins on fuel, the need to bolster profits with food has long being a … [Read more...]
What are the barriers of implementing Cat Man?
Why should you implement Cat Man into your business ? Cat Man is ideally suited to maximising sales and profitability for both retailer & supplier while ensuring the customer/shopper has a better shopping experience. This can be achieved by following the Category Management process i.e. the 8 step process It's main purpose is to satisfy more shoppers at the point of purchase this results … [Read more...]