LAS VEGAS (Oct. 30, 2007) — To successfully implement a category management program is not as difficult as some may think: but it conversely is not as simple as others would surmise, according to a seminar yesterday titled “Fact Based Marketing (Category Management).”
Boiled down to its essence, category management “is simply a business process,” says Jon Rubich, VP of marketing services & category management for United Components, Inc., who led the University of the Aftermarket seminar.
“It’s really focused on the end-user, the customer,” adds Rubich, who has experience in this discipline from previous work in the grocery business. “What’s making that person tick?”
Along with sharing what category management is, Rubich also passed along what it is not: redundant, difficult or intimidating. Nor does it mean relinquishing total control to the parts supplier. “It’s a lot simpler than a lot of people think.”
Category management also is not vendor managed inventory (VMI) or something that can be approached with a “cookie cutter” mindset, he shares.
The results will pay off in dividends, says Rubich, who adds the customer gets improved service and value and a simplified shopping experience, while the reseller sees improved profit and return on investment (ROI), as well as increased customer loyalty. For the supplier, category management offers new selling opportunities.
To implement a successful category management process involves changing the culture of an organization from the top down, with strong leadership at the helm, Rubich adds.
At the seminar, he shared case studies, as well as videos of industry leaders, like Willi Alexander, from Parts Depot, who attested to the success of a good category management program.
A crucial element to category management is data.
“One of the things we hear is there’s not enough data, but that’s changing,” says Rubich, noting a number of data providers like R.L. Polk & Co., The NPD Group and Activant, among a myriad of other providers.
Category management is an eight-step process, he adds, which starts with defining the category, assessing its role, analyzing data and determining a plan, all the way down to the plan’s execution. He points out the “Definition Phase, the Role Phase, the Assessment Phase, the Strategy Phase, the Tactic Phase, the Scorecard Phase and the Implementation Plan” as key to this transformation.