Category Strategy - Why It Matters!

Are you confident your products are the ones retailers really need on their shelves to satisfy shoppers and drive sales?

Are you confident your products are the ones retailers really need on their shelves to satisfy shoppers and drive sales?

Many suppliers don’t realise that influencing range reviews is key to ensuring retailers stock the right products. Planograms and range reviews are definitely very powerful tools, but without a clear category strategy and plan, they often become tactical exercises that solve only short-term problems.

By helping retailers understand the importance of stocking the right products, suppliers can align their range with shopper demand, demonstrate value, and turn everyday merchandising activities into a long-term growth opportunity for both the retailer and their own business.

A category strategy provides the “why” that unites these actions into a long-term growth plan.

Why Category Strategy Matters

Sets the Vision

Defines what the category should achieve: traffic, profit, loyalty, or differentiation. This anchors all activity.

Aligns Stakeholders

Suppliers, retailers, and shoppers often have competing needs. Strategy acts as the “north star,” aligning everyone around shared goals.

Drives Consistency

With strategy, every decision is filtered through agreed growth drivers. Without it, decisions are reactive.

Creates Competitive Advantage

A clear strategy positions the category as distinctive. For example, in beverages, anchoring around health and wellness allows a retailer to lead on innovation.

Enables Smarter Execution

Once the strategy is set, everything else flows more smoothly: planograms, pricing ladders, promotional calendars. Execution becomes consistent, not ad hoc.

Bringing Strategy to Life

A category strategy should be a living framework, not a static PDF. It should answer:

• Which innovation platforms to prioritise?

•  How should price architecture be built?

•  What adjacencies drive shopper engagement?

•  Where should promotional funds be invested?

Case Example: A confectionery strategy centred on “permissible indulgence” guided NPD, price pack architecture, and promotional messages. Every tactic tied back to the strategic vision.

What’s Next?

Category strategy is the engine room of category management.

It defines the why, aligns stakeholders, and ensures that planograms and range reviews build towards sustainable growth, not just short-term fixes. Without it, you’re tinkering. With it, you’re leading.

Need help to create a category strategy? 

The Haley Group lead the end-to-end creation of robust, future-focused category strategies rooted in data and shopper behaviour.

Partnering closely with suppliers and retailers, we develop insight-driven strategies that fuel growth, strengthen partnerships, and deliver lasting value.

Our approach combines deep analysis and collaboration to ensure every strategy is actionable and aligned with market realities.

Learn More

The Haley Group Category Management & Space Experts

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