Using Advanced Category Analytics to Fuel Consumer-Centric Merchandising

The age-old questions "Who is buying what, when, where and why, and what will they want tomorrow?" will always exist in the retail-distributor-manufacturer chain. The challenge is to learn as much as possible, as quickly as possible, and as accurately as possible about consumers" shopping habits, and to effect changes that will influence consumers to buy specific products within specific categories, shaping predictable demand patterns.

Those companies that are bringing to bear greater insights into their category management processes are finding that what began as simply a survival strategy is providing them with an improved competitive edge. CPG companies that gain a better understanding of who shops in different retailing
channels, and how consumer behavior differs from store to store, can use such insights to achieve goals beyond shorttermgains. Such insights can help them improve the success rate of new products
and increase shopper loyalty. Category management insights can help CPG companies move away from using price as the sole motivator in dealing with their customers'both retail customers and consumers