Category performance analysis is the process of reviewing and analyzing a specific product category to understand its performance and identify opportunities for improvement.
Here are a few reasons why category reviews are important:
Overall, category review is an important tool for businesses to use to optimize their performance in a specific product category and achieve their business objectives.
This is a critical step that needs to be specified and agreed upon with the stakeholders before running the analysis, as it can bring different insights and action plans. Here are a few steps for defining the scope of a category performance analysis:
Overall, defining the scope of the category performance analysis involves determining the specific product category, time frame, geographic scope, target audience, and business objectives that the analysis will focus on. This helps to ensure that the analysis is relevant and useful for achieving the business's objectives.
At the end of the analysis, we would like to develop an action plan to grow sales, gain market share and satisfy our Shoppers. Here is the data set that you might need to gather for your analysis
There are 2 types of sales
As the category performance analysis reflects the Shopper behaviour and trend, so Sell Out will be more appropriate to use in the analysis.
The company's goal is to grow higher than the others.
Market Share Loss or Gain could also reflect that result.
😊 My brand grows higher than others > I gain market share
☹ My brand grows lower than others > l lost market share
Number of SKUs: Your SKUs and your competitor's SKUs.
Count every item in the Shopper View. For example,
All these 3 SKUs might be only one SKU for you, but it is 3 SKUs for Shoppers. And each pack type serves a different shopping mission. So you should count it as 3 SKUs.
New Item List
Distribution of each SKU
Shelf Space Allocation of each SKU: Your brands and Competitors
Financial data: This includes information on the financial performance of the category, such as revenue, profits, and expenses. It also includes information on the financial performance of specific competitors within the category.
Customer data: This includes information on the demographics, psychographics, and behaviour of customers within the category. This could include data on age, gender, income, education, location and so on.
Industry data: This includes information on the overall size and growth of the market, as well as information on trends, drivers, and challenges within the industry.
Social Media data: If the category is a consumer good and has a presence online it's important to gather data from social media analytics and feedbacks on the product or service.
Other External data: it could be economic, political, legal and other external factors which could affect the category.
It's important to gather data from a variety of sources in order to ensure that the analysis is comprehensive and accurate. Additionally, data should be as recent as possible, to ensure that the findings are relevant and up-to-date.
The most popular measurement is the growth-share matrix, also known as the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix, which assesses a company's product portfolio and determines which product or segment should receive the most investment.
The grid is based on the Brand Market Growth Rate and Brand Market Share and is divided into four quadrants. Brand strategy in each quadrant should be different.
The growth-share matrix can help a company prioritize its investment decisions and allocate resources effectively. However, it has some limitations, such as its reliance on market share as a sole measure of a product's success and its failure to consider other factors that may affect its performanceใ
Customer Analysis: Study the brand's customer base to understand their demographics, preferences, and behaviors.
Quantifying the number of expected sales would help us know how much we should invest.
There are 2 possible ways.
3.1 Growth opportunity loss
It refers to potential business growth that was not realized due to missed opportunities or poor decision-making. It can be caused by various factors, such as a lack of resources, inadequate planning, or a failure to seize opportunities as they arise.
The calculation is
Formula = (A-C) x B
3.2 Fair Share Gap
The fair share gap is the difference between a company's actual market share and its potential market share, also known as its "fair share." It is typically used to measure a company's performance in a specific market.
To calculate the fair share gap, you can use the following formula :Fair share gap = Actual market share - Potential market share Potential Market Share can be, for example
Competitor analysis studies your brand's competitors to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and strategies. It is an essential tool for businesses to stay competitive in their market and make informed strategic decisions.
To conduct a competitor analysis, you can follow these steps:
1. Identify your competitors: Who are the main competitors in your market? Next, make a list of all the companies that offer similar products or services.
2. Benchmark your brands vs them in terms of
3. Evaluate their strengths and weaknesses: Identify your competitors' key strengths and weaknesses,
By conducting a competitor analysis, you can better understand your competitors and their strategies, which can help inform your own business decisions.
The process of studying how consumers perceive a brand and its products or services. It is to understand their brand's strengths and weaknesses and identify improvement opportunities.
There are several ways to conduct a brand perception analysis, including:
5.1 Surveys are a common method for collecting data on brand perception. You can use online tools or hire a research firm to conduct a survey and gather data on consumer attitudes and perceptions of the brand.
5.2 Focus Groups involve gathering a small, diverse group of consumers and facilitating a discussion about the brand. This can provide valuable insights into how consumers perceive the brand and its products or services.
5.3 Social Media Analysis: Social media platforms can be a rich source of data on brand perception. By analyzing social media conversations and sentiments, you can understand how consumers feel about the brand.
5.4 Customer Feedback: Customer feedback, such as online reviews or comments on social media, can provide valuable insights into how consumers perceive the brand.
5.5 Brand Tracking Studies: These are long-term studies that track changes in brand perception over time. They can be useful for identifying trends and patterns in consumer attitudes towards the brand.
If you want to focus only on the action, the category diagnostic could tell you the cause of sales change in a click. The detail SKUs by SKUS will let you fix the problem at the right SKUs for each challenge.
Below are the most common traps we have seen happening during a Category Management approach implementation.
What a company could help brand manager to successfully implement brand review process.
Ranges Performance
From constantly changing prices, availability issues to continuously growing competition, we help teams take the right decision to develop winning category strategies
Promotions Impact
Promotion history, campaign analytics & promotion planning help teams deliver stronger promotions ROI
Shoppers Engagement
We connect shoppers & loyalty data to help Insights & Category Management Teams build compelling shoppers’ strategies
Teams Onboarding
User friendly interface, interactive charts and tables create an intuitive & interactive platform that teams love
Suppliers Collaboration
Internally with your own teams or externally with business partners, share insights and recommendations to establish a common language while maintaining your own segmentation
Data Management
Whatever your data format, granularity level or source, deliver a seamless access to insights & recommendations with automated data ingestion, structuring & cleansing processes
Hypertrade is a retail tech company in Category Management and Shopper Behaviors Analytics. Manufacturers use our platform to manage their multi-retailer data sets and to automate their category management and sales analytics. Retailers use our platform to improve their Commercial offering, collaborate with their suppliers and Engage their Shoppers. Building on Sales, POS & Loyalty data, some of the things we fully automate are:
• Brand& Category Score card
• Brand automatic Diagnostics
• Range Optimization
• Promotion Planning & Forecasting
• Shoppers baskets analysis