Category Management
Category Managements (CM) is an operational and strategic trade planning instrument where assortment (commodity groups) and commodity management are controlled. These commodity groups are created with the help of scientific analysis of the producer and trader market.
Brief description
A nine-step planning process is used to introduce Category Management in an enterprise. To introduce Category Management in the planning process, one of four main strategies must be selected.
These basic strategies are:
- Summary of assortment
- Sales-boosting actions
- Creating new products
- Price lists
The purpose of assortment collation is to create a clear assortment and, closely related to this, to eliminate unnecessary items from the consumer's point of view.
New product creation describes the cooperation of commerce and industry in creating and implementing new products to minimize costs on the one hand, and provide consumers with more innovative products on the other.
Aims and objectives
Category Management is mainly about optimizing sales and improving margins. With Category Management for customer-oriented assortment, a better offer must be created. The goal, too, is to differentiate against other sales companies to achieve an increase in turnover and profits.
Application
Category Management is used in the consumer goods industry in conjunction with the Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) concept.