Retail shelf management means cost-efficiently aligning retail operations with consumer demand. As consumers expect high product availability and low prices, and retailers are constantly increasing product variety and striving towards high service levels, the complexity of managing retail business and its operations is growing enormously. Retailers need to match consumer demand with shelf supply by balancing variety (number of products) and service levels (number of items of a product), and by optimizing demand and profit through carefully calibrated prices. As a result the core strategic decisions a retailer must make involve assortment sizes, shelf space assignment and pricing levels. Rigorous quantitative methods have emerged as the most promising solution to this problem. The individual chapters in this book therefore focus on three areas: (1) combining assortment and shelf space planning, (2) providing efficient decision support systems for practically relevant problem sizes, and (3) integrating inventory and price optimization into shelf management.

In some parts of the world, especially in developing markets, category management today remains a stretch goal – a new idea full of untapped potential. In other areas, the original eight-step process that emerged in the late 1980’s forms the foundation of many companies’ approach to category management. In still others, particularly in developed countries like the U.S., the U.K., and others, refinements are being made – most of them designed to place consumer understanding front and center. New ideas are emerging – from "trip management" to "aisle management" to "customer management." Whether a new descriptor emerges to replace "category management" is yet to be seen. Even if that does happen, what won’t change is the overall objective – to help retailers and their manufacturer partners succeed by offering the right selection of products that are marketed and merchandised based on a complete understanding of the consumers they are committed to serving. This book, which explores both the state of and the state-of-the-art in category management, is for everyone with a vested interest in category management. It can serve such a broad audience because category management is about bringing a structured process to how executives think and make decisions about their businesses, no matter what information and information technology they have access to.

Category management is one of the biggest contributors of commercial value in the area of procurement and supply chain. With a proven track record of successful delivery since the early 1990s, it helps organisations gather and analyse key data about their procurement spend before subsequently creating and delivering value-adding strategies that change the value proposition from supply chains. The aim of category management is to find long-term breakthrough strategies that help lift an organisation’s commercial performance to a new level. Because of its strategic long-term orientation and complex execution, category management has long been the preserve of commercial consulting companies – in effect a ‘black box’ toolkit shrouded in expensive methodologies. This practical handbook lifts the lid on category management by providing readers with a step-by-step process and established toolkit that allows them a ‘do-it-yourself’ approach. Each activity is presented as a simple tool or technique for practitioners to apply to their own organisations. To support each activity, easy-to- use templates and checklists have been provided, together with simple but practical hints and tips for implementation. This handbook is a ‘must read’ for all procurement and supplychain managers looking to find significant improvements in their organisations. Its practical approach cuts through long-winded consultant-speak and provides an easy-to-use practical toolkit for everyday application.

This text represents a specialist text resource for students of retail management or marketing courses and modules, providing the reader with the opportunity to acquire a deeper knowledge of a key area of retailing management.

HOW TO design an enjoyable and/or efficient shopper experience. adapt your retail format to new societal trends while keeping the retail brand differentiating. energise supplier-retailer relationships and face the challenges ahead in an open and a collaborative way. Retail is going through tremendous change as a result of new types of competitors and ever higher consumer expectations. An abundance of products, media and data has become available. Digitisation and the demand for an inclusive and a sustainable society call for new ways of defining the future together. Everyone needs to be mobilised, and the category level holds the right meeting point for suppliers and retailers. The Retail Innovation Toolkit offers practical tools and case studies on the way forward, so that professionals on both retail and supplier sides can start addressing category challenges immediately. The 42 tools help professionals to analyse, grow, innovate and even reinvent categories in a fun and a quick manner. The Category Management concept is refreshed by integrating tools from Experience Design and Product Innovation to create a new set of innovation skills and mobilise collaboration within and among retailer and supplier organisations. This is an excellent toolkit with practical approaches to growing the category and reinventing the retail game.

How is it possible to sell a kitchen at 30 per cent below market price? Why are hot dogs cheaper in IKEA than in the supermarket? How can IKEA sell the Lack table at half the price it was when it was launched 35 years ago and how can it be achieved with a substantial profit? Strategic Sourcing and Category Management examines how IKEA - and other cost leading companies - use category management to create advantages with direct and indirect sourcing. With 25 years' experience from IKEA, where he had the responsibility to develop and execute the company's purchasing strategy, author Magnus Carlsson shares his insights on important topics: when category management is profitable and why; how teams repeatedly create value and results; what the main approaches are in different categories; how a company implements category management; the difference between success and failure. In this new edition of Strategic Sourcing and Category Management, Magnus Carlsson has added new themes including examples and references from companies such as Maersk, Carlsberg, P&G and Aldi, illustrating the application of cost leadership that spans far beyond IKEA. Even there, the cost leadership lessons are not limited to home furnishings as the company is sourcing categories such as food, components, materials, transports and indirect materials, with a total purchasing spend of approximately €7 billion. But maybe even more importantly, the book illustrates how teams create value by thinking differently and asking the right questions, allowing an understanding that goes beyond mere tools and processes.

Retail apocalypse or Retail renaissance Let’s first of all understand that retail is not dying but bad retail is certainly dying. Brands which refuse to adapt themselves to changing consumer’s buying behavior would vanish. The book cover real life case studies and examples to explain the retail concepts for the young retail managers and retail start-up owners, retailpreneurs & senior leaderships in an easy to understand style. The book is a must read for management undergraduates, retail front liners and mid managers who strive for self-learning and self-growth and development. The aim of the book is to de-mystify the complexities of existing retail and simplify it as it was earlier meant to be in the first place. Hence the title SIMPLIFYING RETAIL. Wishing all the readers a success in their retail journey