Step 5: Develop a Product Category Tactic
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 10:53 am
As strange as it may sound, when a specialist of any company is asked the question: “Who is in charge of the assortment?”, he usually answers: “Everyone!” From this, as a rule, it follows that no one bears responsibility for sales profitability, compilation of the matrix and development.
In order for the company's product range philippine country code management to be effective, it must be handled by the marketing department. The specialists in this department are called brand managers. It is believed that the optimal number of such employees is two. We talked about the plant above. If we return to this example, we can note that one of the specialists is responsible for bread and other everyday products, and the second for long-term products and bakery products. If the size of the enterprise is small (production up to 20 tons per day), perhaps one manager will be enough.
Responsibilities of Assortment Managers
Specialists who participate in assortment management processes set themselves the following tasks: analytical activities and work with suppliers. Let's consider each of them in more detail.
Analytical activities
It should be regular. Analytical activity includes research into customer demand, drawing up a portrait of the client who is most likely to purchase the product, and assessing the profit from product sales. Based on the data obtained, the following indicators are determined:
Number of product range items. This number is influenced by the following: the type of strategy chosen, the company's specialization, and business features. Thus, the number of product range items should be large enough if the organization positions itself as a seller of equipment from various manufacturers.
If the company sells products of one brand, the range may be narrow. The more offered, the more advantageous the company's position. It is important to sell related products. If you sell mobile phones, add to the display case everything that the client may need: a headset, a charger, protective glass, covers, etc.
The price of each product unit from the range. This indicator is influenced by the following factors: the current state of the market, the cost of similar products from competitors. Marketers are engaged in pricing. They recommend setting a particular price for a product based on the monitoring conducted.
Economists also take part in determining the price, their goal is to identify the minimum possible cost that will not allow them to go into losses. Consumer demand and the rating of the products in the store's assortment are necessarily taken into account.
Stock. Every company that sells products has its own popular items. Their share takes up about 90% of the warehouse. That is, it is not at all necessary for all items in the assortment to have equal quantities. Experts believe that high sales can be ensured by selling only 20% of the items declared.
Assortment
The importance of each product line item. Product units can be grouped according to how well they sell. This includes best-selling products, i.e. those that sell out the fastest, and high-margin products, i.e. those with a large difference between the purchase price and the final price in the store. Attention should be paid to the characteristics of products from both groups, since they all generate income for the company.
Reason for demand change. Marketing specialists in the area of assortment management must constantly monitor how much product is left in warehouses and in the store, control the sales process for each item.
In order for it to be as effective as possible, it is necessary to use special analytical programs that make it possible not only to monitor the situation on a daily basis, but also to compare it with the situation of competitors, to draw conclusions taking into account seasonality, customer requests and other factors.
The tracking should be done online so that specialists can make timely adjustments and take measures to solve problems. The process will allow to highlight those factors that will play the most important role in the analysis.
New products. A store cannot constantly sell the same products. Releasing new products and placing them on display will help maintain consumer interest. The more non-standard ideas are implemented, the better. Formation and management of the product range includes a constant search for new information. For this purpose, various international exhibitions are visited, new products are introduced abroad, etc. If information appears regularly, the store can increase the efficiency of developing new product concepts.
Marketers also create a portrait of a potential buyer. Assortment managers perform other functions: they determine why bestsellers are so successful with customers. To identify the reasons, specialists rely on the description of the consumer from marketers.
For example, a store has come to the conclusion that mature women complain more often than young women that their shoes are too tight around the ankle. Based on this complaint, when purchasing a new batch of boots, it is worth ordering similar models, but with a wider shaft. This will significantly increase the likelihood that the entire batch will be sold out, and, accordingly, the store's income will be higher.
In order for the company's product range philippine country code management to be effective, it must be handled by the marketing department. The specialists in this department are called brand managers. It is believed that the optimal number of such employees is two. We talked about the plant above. If we return to this example, we can note that one of the specialists is responsible for bread and other everyday products, and the second for long-term products and bakery products. If the size of the enterprise is small (production up to 20 tons per day), perhaps one manager will be enough.
Responsibilities of Assortment Managers
Specialists who participate in assortment management processes set themselves the following tasks: analytical activities and work with suppliers. Let's consider each of them in more detail.
Analytical activities
It should be regular. Analytical activity includes research into customer demand, drawing up a portrait of the client who is most likely to purchase the product, and assessing the profit from product sales. Based on the data obtained, the following indicators are determined:
Number of product range items. This number is influenced by the following: the type of strategy chosen, the company's specialization, and business features. Thus, the number of product range items should be large enough if the organization positions itself as a seller of equipment from various manufacturers.
If the company sells products of one brand, the range may be narrow. The more offered, the more advantageous the company's position. It is important to sell related products. If you sell mobile phones, add to the display case everything that the client may need: a headset, a charger, protective glass, covers, etc.
The price of each product unit from the range. This indicator is influenced by the following factors: the current state of the market, the cost of similar products from competitors. Marketers are engaged in pricing. They recommend setting a particular price for a product based on the monitoring conducted.
Economists also take part in determining the price, their goal is to identify the minimum possible cost that will not allow them to go into losses. Consumer demand and the rating of the products in the store's assortment are necessarily taken into account.
Stock. Every company that sells products has its own popular items. Their share takes up about 90% of the warehouse. That is, it is not at all necessary for all items in the assortment to have equal quantities. Experts believe that high sales can be ensured by selling only 20% of the items declared.
Assortment
The importance of each product line item. Product units can be grouped according to how well they sell. This includes best-selling products, i.e. those that sell out the fastest, and high-margin products, i.e. those with a large difference between the purchase price and the final price in the store. Attention should be paid to the characteristics of products from both groups, since they all generate income for the company.
Reason for demand change. Marketing specialists in the area of assortment management must constantly monitor how much product is left in warehouses and in the store, control the sales process for each item.
In order for it to be as effective as possible, it is necessary to use special analytical programs that make it possible not only to monitor the situation on a daily basis, but also to compare it with the situation of competitors, to draw conclusions taking into account seasonality, customer requests and other factors.
The tracking should be done online so that specialists can make timely adjustments and take measures to solve problems. The process will allow to highlight those factors that will play the most important role in the analysis.
New products. A store cannot constantly sell the same products. Releasing new products and placing them on display will help maintain consumer interest. The more non-standard ideas are implemented, the better. Formation and management of the product range includes a constant search for new information. For this purpose, various international exhibitions are visited, new products are introduced abroad, etc. If information appears regularly, the store can increase the efficiency of developing new product concepts.
Marketers also create a portrait of a potential buyer. Assortment managers perform other functions: they determine why bestsellers are so successful with customers. To identify the reasons, specialists rely on the description of the consumer from marketers.
For example, a store has come to the conclusion that mature women complain more often than young women that their shoes are too tight around the ankle. Based on this complaint, when purchasing a new batch of boots, it is worth ordering similar models, but with a wider shaft. This will significantly increase the likelihood that the entire batch will be sold out, and, accordingly, the store's income will be higher.