19 Jul Category management’s next horizon: How distributors can outperform

McKinsey & Company’s article was released in June 10, 2022.

Like top retailers, the most profitable distributors have detailed end-to-end views of category performance. This helps them manage complexity and supply constraints, keep costs down, and meet customers’ needs while driving profitable growth. But few truly understand how to extract full value from their assortments.

But elevating category management in distribution is becoming far more important for four main reasons:

1. The growing complexity of customer requirements.
2. The ever-expanding depth and breadth of product assortments.
3. An unprecedented inflationary environment driving uncertainty.
4. A talent gap and rising expectations for category managers.

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