ABSTRACT
Category management was first developed in the fast-moving consumer goods sector to help product managers and marketers to group their products together and gain synergies, such as cross-selling and brand leverage. The Category Management Process is an iterative step-by-step process that creates and implements a long-term-plan [strategy] for various groupings of organisational spend. Category management is a tried and tested management process for building ‘breakthrough’ strategies. Category management is a controlled process for bringing about wide cross-functional stakeholder support and building a strategy that is based on facts and data, rather than conjecture or opinion. Some category management initiatives end up getting lost in the data gathering, research and analysis phases due to lack of leadership and stakeholder buy-in. There are seven key elements associated with the Category Management Process: initiation, research, analysis, strategy, implementation, gateways, and continuous improvement.
