By George Anderson
A Business 2.0 article, Who's Minding the Store?, says category management may limit the ability of retailers to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Andrew Raskin, the author of the article, writes, the use of category management "is growing because it works -- at least from a dollars-and-cents standpoint. According to a recent survey by retail consultancy Cannondale Associates, retailers attribute 14 percent sales growth to category management; manufacturers report an 8 percent jump."
Category management may lead to greater efficiencies, say critics, but it also "is the driving force behind a cookie-cutter marketplace in which Safeway, ShopRite, and Save Mart all carry the same stuff. In their view, category management is retail's Faustian bargain: Lured by the savings and convenience of getting manufacturers to mind the store, retailers have ceded not only responsibility for their shelves but also any hope of differentiating themselves."
Moderator's Comment: Are the critics correct? Is category management "the driving force behind a cookie-cutter marketplace in which Safeway, ShopRite, and Save Mart all carry the same stuff?" [George Anderson - Moderator]