Shopper & Category Development - The Evolution of Category Management

Key Competencies Addressed

Primary: Strategic Business Planning
Secondary: Analysis & Insights, Trading Partner Development

Description

This 2-day course is designed to review the purpose, rationale and evolution of the industry's best practices in category management. Participants will build awareness and experience by creating a fictitious, but realistic, category plan, adhering to the best practice approach. Each step in the planning and implementation process will be illuminated through real-life industry examples, underscoring the most effective way to achieve category differentiation by employing insight, strategy and initiative design and execution. Finally, participants will learn practical techniques that will enable them to apply their learning the very next day.

Course Modules

• The history of category management
• The shopper & category development process
• Category definition & role
• Insight generation
• Category strategies
• Category tactical planning
• Initiative development
• Successful plan launch & review
  

Learning Objectives

• To describe the purpose, rationale and practices of category management
• To recognize the advantages stemming from the evolution of category management to shopper & category development
• To identify the key steps of the shopper & category development process
• To describe how retailers and manufacturers collaborate most effectively in each area of category plan development and deployment
• To identify key implementation watch-outs, tools and enablers
• To plan how to practice shopper & category development in their company, the next day, with or without a formal, corporate-wide program
  

Supported Behaviors

• Strategic Business Planning
  • Developing plans with their trading partner to meet immediate business needs
  • Using available tools to develop collaborative business plans
  • Reviewing progress of plans on regular basis and adjusts plans as appropriate
• Analysis & Insights
  • Using basic terminology commonly used to describe consumers and shoppers
  • Using standard information such as consumer/shopper groupings & categories
• Trading Partner Development
  • Integrating understanding of customer needs and strategies into proposals