Category management: Industry vs trade

Abstract

Identification of the peculiarities of category management in trade and industry enterprises, and development and testing of the method for category management evaluation in the light of global macro-trends that transform category management under the current conditions determined the relevance and purpose of the study. Nowadays, category management is perceived by most organisations as a continuous business process where category management activities are an integral part of the business. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the conceptual principles and methodological approaches to the management of product categories, which are highlighted by Ukrainian and foreign researchers, in the materials of periodicals, and in the Internet resources dedicated to the investigation of classical and modern concepts of category management. In the process of their development, such scientific and empirical methods as causal analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, systematisation and generalisation, system and process approaches were used. The conducted research revealed the presence of significant reserves for the development of category management at industrial enterprises. According to the results of “The Future of Category Management” survey, such global macro trends of the transformation of category management were identified as the store of the future; digital supply system; the future of the food market; the growing role of environmental, social, and corporate responsibility. An approach to assessing the state of category management at a trade and industry enterprise is proposed, with the help of checklists for monitoring the state of provision of category management and monitoring the assessment of the organisational effect in the field of enterprise category management. The proposed approach to assessing the state of category management will contribute to the improvement of approaches to planning, information, and analytical support and control over the main management processes at the enterprise