So, what exactly is category management?
Let’s break it down: category management is a retail strategy where you manage groups of similar products together. Think of it as curating the perfect shelf for your customers. The goal? Make sure your range delights shoppers, boosts sales, and keeps both buyers and suppliers happy.
Why does this matter?
Buyers are under more pressure than ever to grow market share and profitability. Many don’t have years of experience in every category, and resources are often stretched thin. That’s where smart insights and supplier solutions come in. When done right, everyone wins: customers find what they want, buyers hit their targets, and suppliers grow their brands.
Great, but why isn’t every company doing this?
Here’s the catch: effective category management needs a lot of insight - product performance, competitor moves, shopper behaviour, and more. Traditionally, gathering and analysing all this data took a whole team.
But in reality, most companies face hurdles such as:
- Sales data stuck in finance, hard to access.
- Customer data managed by busy account managers, rarely fully analysed.
- Retailer audits not done often, so you miss out on competitor activity and range gaps.
- External data seen as expensive or too complex to use.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
So, What’s the Solution?
Enter smarter category management - powered by AI and new tech. Now, you don’t need a big team to get powerful insights. With the right tools, you can access the data you need, when you need it, and act faster than your competitors.
This isn’t just a nice-to-have. In today’s fast-paced food and drink market, it’s a real competitive advantage.
Why Smart Category Management is a Game-Changer:
- It enables you to monitor and respond quickly to shoppers' rapidly evolving needs – placing their needs at the heart of category decision making.
- A well-managed category needs to adapt quickly to emerging trends.
- Keeps a buyer’s category relevant and their sales in growth
- When you get the right mix of products in the right place, people buy more. Simple as that.
- It Builds Better Retail Relationships.
- Retailers want proactive partners who consider the needs of the buyer’s category and not just their own brand and product performance.
Why are Levercliff highlighting this?
At Levercliff, we’ve been busy upgrading our services, using AI and new tech to help our clients unlock insights and deliver real solutions to buyers. We’re passionate about smart category management because we’ve seen how powerful it can be as a sales tool.
Do you want to hear more?
Ready to take your category performance to the next level? Let’s chat! Arrange a call with our team and see how smart category management can work for you.
.jpg)
