Category Management

Also known as: CatMan, Category Planning, Category Strategy

Strategic process managing a product category as a business unit, maximizing value for the consumer and the retailer.

Category Management (CatMan) is a business discipline where manufacturers and retailers work collaboratively to manage a product category as a strategic business unit, rather than managing individual brands alone.

The standard process (Efficient Consumer Response or ECR) includes: category definition, category role in the store, current situation analysis, objective setting, strategy development, tactical implementation (assortment, price, promotion, display), and results evaluation.

Market research is the fundamental input for category management: shopper insights data, consumer decision tree, category abandonment analysis, and assortment simulations (TURF) inform all category management decisions.

Atlantia supports category management projects with its shopper insights and demand analysis solutions.