How can you develop a category plan that is sustainable over the long term?

2 Conduct a SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis is a tool that helps you identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your category. It helps you assess your current situation, as well as the external factors that could affect your category performance. A SWOT analysis can help you identify the gaps and challenges that you need to address, as well as the potential areas of growth and improvement that you can leverage. For example, a SWOT analysis could reveal that your category has a strong brand reputation and loyal customer base, but also faces high competition and price sensitivity.

3 Set SMART objectives

SMART stands for specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. SMART objectives are the concrete and quantifiable outcomes that you want to achieve with your category plan in the short to medium term. They should be aligned with your category vision, and they should reflect the results of your SWOT analysis. SMART objectives can help you focus your efforts, track your progress, and evaluate your performance. For example, a SMART objective could be: to increase the category market share by 10% in the next 12 months.

4 Develop your action plan

Your action plan is the detailed roadmap that outlines how you will achieve your SMART objectives. It covers the specific tactics and activities that you will implement across the different aspects of your category plan, such as assortment, pricing, promotion, and merchandising. Your action plan should also include the resources, budget, timeline, and responsibilities that are required for each tactic and activity. Your action plan should be realistic, flexible, and adaptable, and it should address the needs and preferences of your target customer segments. For example, an action plan could include: launching a new product line, offering a loyalty program, running a seasonal campaign, and optimizing the shelf layout.

5 Monitor and measure your results

Monitoring and measuring your results is the process of collecting and analyzing data and feedback on your category performance. It helps you evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of your action plan, and it helps you identify the areas of success and improvement. Monitoring and measuring your results should be done on a regular basis, using the relevant metrics and indicators that are linked to your SMART objectives. For example, some of the metrics and indicators that you could use are: sales volume, sales value, market share, margin, customer satisfaction, and return on investment.

6 Review and revise your plan

Reviewing and revising your plan is the process of updating and adjusting your category plan based on the results of your monitoring and measurement. It helps you ensure that your category plan is still relevant, valid, and aligned with your category vision, customer needs, and market trends. Reviewing and revising your plan should be done periodically, or whenever there is a significant change or challenge in your category environment. For example, some of the factors that could trigger a review and revision of your plan are: new customer insights, new competitor actions, new regulations, new technologies, or new opportunities.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?