Range of services

Category Management & Shopper Experience

Grow your category by using the right growth drivers

 

Based on a deep understanding of categories and shoppers, we identify the growth drivers along the entire shopper journey. Through the targeted optimisation of these drivers, we have demonstrably achieved above-average category growth.


In addition to optimising category-specific touchpoints, such as the shelf placement and secondary placement concept, we work with you to develop a category vision in order to exploit each category’s full potential. We always take both the shopper's perspective and the retailer's perspective into account.

We develop, measure and optimise for our industry and retail customers, for example, in the following areas:

Yagora Category Management and Shopper Experience Category Vision Icons

Category vision

Yagora Category Management and Shopper Experience Grundlagenstudien Icons

Category baseline studies

Yagora Category Management and Shopper Experience Regaloptimierung Icons

Shelf optimisation

Yagora Category Management and Shopper Experience Markttest Icons

Market tests of category concepts

Yagora Category Management and Shopper Experience Handelsgespraeche Icons

Support during retailer negotiations

bindepunkte

Typical questions from customers that we answer:

Yagora Category Management Shopper Experience Shoppertypen Icon

Category definition

How is the category structured from the shopper's perspective?

Yagora Category Management Shopper Experience Emotionaler Treiber Icon

Drivers

What are the category’s emotional and functional drivers?

Yagora Category Management Shopper Shoppertypen Icon

Shopper types

What types of shopper are there in the category?

Yagora Category Management Shopper Touchpoints Icon

Shopper touchpoints

What are the relevant shopper touchpoints for the category?

Yagora Category Management Shopper Shopper Occasions Icon

Occasions

What shopping missions and shopping occasions are there in the category?

Yagora Category Management Shopper Experience Orientierung des Shoppers Icon

Orientation

How do shoppers search and orientate themselves within the category?

Yagora Category Management and Shopper Experience Kaufhuerden

Purchasing barriers

What barriers to making a purchase can be identified in the category?

bindepunkte

"Yagora has built a hands-on and easy-to-implement Strategic Shopper Research Framework which helps us to streamline our international Category Management activities, increase the process efficiency and encourage knowledge sharing.
Thanks to Yagora’s profound experience with global accounts and their success cases on how to transfer insights into action, we received a great feedback from the local Category Managers of the different countries. Looking forward to our next projects."

 

Caroline Kopp

International Category Management Developer

Eckes-Granini Group GmbH

"Yagora’s category and brand insights enabled us to develop new concepts for the barbecue meta-category in food retail and to validate their potential in advance. Yagora was able to demonstrate the category's potential clearly to us and showed us how to leverage this potential in the long term through specific recommendations for action."


Jan Roman Redeker

Head of licensing Business EMEA

Weber-Stephen Products (EMEA) GmbH

"Yagora has been our valuable partner for several years when it comes to shopper marketing and category management projects.


The combination of implementation orientation and fact-based working methods is the USP of Yagora. It is important for us to have a partner who knows the POS and knows how to successfully implement the shopper insights that have been gained. "

 

Robin Betz

Senior Category, Shopper & Trade Marketing Manager EMEA

LSI Netherlands B.V.

"With the help of Yagora and their Data Science Team we have been able to provide our retail partners with actionable insights based on loyalty card and scan data analysis. Yagora accompanied us in projects in multiple countries like Ireland, Italy, Russia and Saudi Arabia."


Niels Dekkers

Head of Marketing and Strategic Projects

SPAR International

"We would like to thank Yagora for the productive partnership in the process of analytical work and consulting. During our cooperation, Yagora’s employees have confirmed their highest professional status, activity and competence in the performance of tasks. All projects in were completed on time and with excellent quality. We recommend Yagora as a responsible and reliable partner."

 

Elena Rodina
Décor Leader Purchasing Direction
Leroy Merlin Russia, 2019

Official training and solution partner of GS1 Germany

 

As the official training partner for shopper research and touchpoint management within the category manager certification of GS1 Germany, Yagora promotes the GS1 Germany standards and process recommendations.

 

As part of our category management projects, it is important to us to actively implement the standards of GS1 Germany in our work and, based on this, to develop successful category management concepts in accordance with the category-specific requirements of our customers.

FAQ: Questions about Category Management Projects

  • Category Vision sounds interesting. What does a category vision covers and how does it differ from “classic” product range and placement optimization?

    The category vision is usually not based on a status quo in the category, but rethinks the category vision completely. The aim is to make the category “fit” for the future, to identify trends and to evaluate their effects on the category and its sustainability. Ultimately, it is important that the category vision do not exist merely on paper. The goal of Yagora is to implement a forward-looking category vision at the POS and thus make it perceptible for the shopper.

 

  • Can category management projects be carried out across different accounts and is a project also possible in online retail?

    Since Yagora has a broad network of cooperation partners, we can observe and analyze relevant categories parallel in different key accounts as part of a project. We have already carried out extensive shopper studies at the digital POS and can generate detailed shopper insights about online shopper behavior using a wide variety of online research methods.

 

  • How does Yagora decide which method is goind to be used for a project?

    Depending on different factors, such as objectives, questions, scope and timing, we will select the right method(s) from our broad shopper research method portfolio. Then we combine the applied method(s) with the appropriate research location (e.g. studio, online and at the POS) and the optimal survey and measurement methods in order to generate relevant category and shopper insights for our customers.

 

  • Can Yagora carry out a Category Management project in every category?

    Yagora can carry out category management projects in very different categories and has already carried out projects in various categories, such as snacks, confectionery, dairy products, convenience, beverages, but also in non-food areas such as the drugstore, and has enabled sustainable category growth.

 

  • What makes Yagora different from other providers regarding category management?

    As a training partner for shopper research within the category manager certification of GS1 Germany, we ensure the highest quality standards throughout the project. Our team of experts is available to advise you right from the start and select the right mix of methods to answer your individual questions. In addition, a project team always consists of a mix of CM practitioners and shopper research experts.

 

  • How long does a CM project take?

    The length of the project and the scope are dependent on the questions and the level of detail required for the category and shopper insights. For example, Basic category-specific questions can be answered very quickly with agile surveys, while extensive and fundamental category management projects with the development of a category vision and the implementation of a real life store test can take several months.

 

  • Can Yagora also carry out category modifications?

    Yes, thanks to our own retail panel, long-term cooperation in the food retail sector and the involvement of our in-house field service, we can carry out category modifications on a test basis and validly evaluate the sales effects on the category. For larger rollouts, we cooperate with experienced and reliable field service providers.