Category Management as a Tool of Managing Assortment in the Retailer X on the Example of the Category "Laundry"

Retailers are trying to better understand customers by using new research, approaches and methods to help respond to trends and changing working and living conditions. The categorical approach to product portfolio management, its efficiency and profitability is no longer new for representatives of the retail sector and FMCG manufacturers. The economic and political events that have taken place in recent years have affected the lives of most of the population. The relevance of the work is due to the fact that consumer preferences and the market situation require permanent analysis and study, as well as the development of new solutions to retain and attract customers to the category. The first part of the work reveals the theoretical foundations of category management and assortment management tools, as well as steps to implement category management in the interaction between the supplier and the retailer. The second chapter examines the possible roles of a supplier in category interaction, practical cases of using category management to optimize sales and assortment management both in Russia and abroad. The third chapter describes the results and conclusions from an empirical study: an in-depth analysis of the market and the "Laundry Products" category, a consumer survey of the category and interviews with experts in the field, as well as a study of the assortment and planogram of the X network. Based on the results of the work, practical recommendations have been developed for category managers on working with the assortment of categories and a plan for placing categories on the shelf space.