Name the Category Role Before You Change the Shelf
Choose assortment and display moves based on a category's strategic role.
Do not change the shelf until you can say what the category is for. Define the job The category role tells the store whether the category is meant to drive trips, complete baskets, create impulse, deliver margin, or support a seasonal mission. Without that role, assortment becomes a negotiation between whoever argues loudest. Match tactics to role Destination categories need depth, availability, and clear quality signals. Routine categories need speed and clarity. Impulse categories need location and occasion cues. Seasonal categories need theatre and exit timing. The same product can be right in one role and noise in another. Review…
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