NRS Insights Blog · Topic

Category & Assortment

Category management, planograms, adjacency, and pack size in a store with one shelf to spare.

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Category & Assortment

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Category & Assortment
Category growth drivers: penetration, frequency, and spend

Category growth drivers explained: penetration, frequency and spend, which data measures each one, and what store-level scan data can show.

Sep 16, 20264 min read
Category & Assortment
Shelf space allocation: the data behind a lost facing

Shelf space allocation decisions often come down to one facing. How to read velocity per facing and make a data-backed case to a buyer.

Aug 31, 20264 min read
Category & Assortment
Functional beverages: how to read a fast-moving category

The functional beverage category moves fast, with frequent launches and shifting definitions. How to read its sales data without being misled.

Jul 31, 20264 min read
Category & Assortment
Refrigerated categories in small-format stores

The refrigerated category in small-format stores runs on a few cooler doors. How to read its sales data when space and out-of-stocks shape results.

Jul 27, 20264 min read
Category & Assortment
Assortment optimization for small-format stores

Assortment optimization for small-format stores: how to use scan data to choose fewer items that still cover what shoppers come in to buy.

Jul 6, 20264 min read
Category & Assortment
Product hierarchies: brand, category, subcategory, and item

A product hierarchy groups items into categories, subcategories and brands. Here's how the levels work and why definitions need to be written down.

Jun 10, 20264 min read
Category & Assortment
Assortment breadth against depth

A fixed shelf forces a choice between more lines and more facings. What the data can say about where the balance sits.

May 23, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Building a category review pack

A category review is a retailer conversation, not a brand pitch. What belongs in the pack and what undermines it.

May 20, 20264 min read
Category & Assortment
Shelf share without a shelf audit

Physical shelf share needs observation. What sales data can and cannot say about it, and the proxies that are defensible.

May 15, 20264 min read
Category & Assortment
Category definitions: whose category is it?

A category boundary is a choice, and different parties draw it differently. What that does to share, growth and every comparison.

Apr 3, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Comparing across pack sizes: equivalised volume

Units sold means nothing across different pack sizes. What equivalised volume does, how it is built, and where it goes wrong.

Feb 27, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Category adjacencies: what sells together

Product adjacency analysis explained: how transaction data shows what sells together, and how to turn co-purchase patterns into placement decisions.

Jan 24, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Planogram compliance: what the data can flag

What planogram compliance means in independent retail, and the scan data signals that tell a field team which stores to visit first.

Jan 21, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Counter placement: why the register zone behaves differently

Why counter placement near the register behaves unlike any shelf in the store, and how CPG teams can read front-of-store performance in scan data.

Jan 19, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Pack size strategy: the economics of small-format stores

Why pack size strategy works differently in small-format retail: price points, cooler space, and what scan data shows about which sizes move.

Jan 17, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Share of shelf vs. share of sales: reading the gap

Share of shelf meaning, how it differs from share of sales, and what the gap between space and sales tells a brand manager in small-format retail.

Jan 14, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Neighborhood assortment data: why averages mislead

Why the "average store" is a fiction: how neighborhood assortment data works and how to analyze store-level variation responsibly.

Jan 2, 20265 min read
Category & Assortment
Snack category management in small-format stores

Snack category management for small-format stores: placement zones, assortment width, price points, and a simple review cadence an owner can run.

Dec 10, 20255 min read
Category & Assortment
Beverage category decisions in small-format stores

How beverage category decisions get made in small-format stores: door allocation, single-serve packs, and velocity per facing, explained step by step.

Dec 8, 20255 min read
Category & Assortment
Category management basics for small-format retail

Category management basics for small-format retail: a five-step cycle for assortment, pricing, and placement that fits stores without a planogram team.

Dec 6, 20255 min read

Category & Assortment

All topics

Category & Assortment

Category growth drivers: penetration, frequency, and spend

Shelf space allocation: the data behind a lost facing

Functional beverages: how to read a fast-moving category

Refrigerated categories in small-format stores

Assortment optimization for small-format stores

Product hierarchies: brand, category, subcategory, and item

Assortment breadth against depth

Building a category review pack

Shelf share without a shelf audit

Category definitions: whose category is it?

Comparing across pack sizes: equivalised volume

Category adjacencies: what sells together

Planogram compliance: what the data can flag

Counter placement: why the register zone behaves differently

Pack size strategy: the economics of small-format stores

Share of shelf vs. share of sales: reading the gap

Neighborhood assortment data: why averages mislead

Snack category management in small-format stores

Beverage category decisions in small-format stores

Category management basics for small-format retail