Category captain arrangements in grocery retail marketing

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine shelf management practices of grocery retail chains and their category captains (CCs) in the marketing of consumer packaged goods. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative, exploratory study that is set in a duopoly retail environment in the Asia-Pacific region. The study employed 18 in-depth interviews with executives and managers of two umbrella retail organisations and their suppliers/manufacturers. The method of data analysis employed was content analysis. Findings – Despite CC input in merchandising decisions, it is the retail chains that have the final say on shelf matters. There is no risk of strategic loss of power in employing CCs to manage store product categories on behalf of, or in partnership with retailers provided the retail chains closely monitor the activities and decisions/recommendations of the captains. Research limitations/implications – The paper is developed from data obtained from the grocery retail industry of one economy. Future research would need to extend this study to other economies with similar as well as different conditions. Practical implications – The research offers reassurance to grocery retail practitioners who may be contemplating lessening the burden of managing all their store categories by themselves and switching to CC arrangements. The reassurance is that the reported risk associated with loss of power is manageable. Originality/value – The paper has created a typology termed the “category captain arrangement/grocery retail concentration matrix” and specific directions for further research.

How manufacturer brand erosion shapes consumer assortment perceptions

“…Thus, assortment decisions determine a retailer’s market position and image (e.g. Chimhundu et al , 2015; Mantrala et al , 2009), heavily influence a retailer’s sales and profits and are crucial for long-term success (Bahng and Kincade, 2014; Bauer et al , 2012).…”

“…Fyfe and Millar, 2012). In addition, while in the grocery retail environments, retailers overall wield more power over manufacturers (Chimhundu et al , 2015), manufacturer brands remain important for store traffic (Ngobo, 2011). These seemingly conflicting consequences of manufacturer brand erosion demand formal investigation.…”

Value creation in category management relationships in the UK grocery market

“…This was also likely to apply to private label suppliers who had a deeper understanding of the own-brand market. They could therefore focus on their niche and carry out the correct market analysis and product development to make informed recommendations (Chimhundu, Kong and Gururajan, 2015). The research found that category captains needed to continuously invest money into the relationship to maintain captaincy, whereas non -captains did not.…”

“…Non-captains therefore gained the overall profit growth without investing the capital themselves. However, if a smaller supplier did want to obtain captaincy, previous research has implied that this would be more difficult, due to the size of the business (Hamister and Fortsch, 2016;Chimhundu, Kong and Gururajan, 2015). Previous research has shown that the larger suppliers tended to gain captaincy, but if the smaller ones or private label ones did, this was due to the operant resources provided, for example, due to their ability to analyse data and make intellectual recommendations that surpassed those of their competitors (Harrison-Walker, 2001).…”

“…The hope is that the increased footfall would drive sales of other products and profitability. However, despite all this, the literature has stated that the retailer always had the final say on fixture; having an impact on trust and the supplier's ability to influence (Chimhundu, Kong and Gururajan, 2015). Bringing together the retailer's intentions with the supplier's knowledge on what was motivating the shopper; where they were shopping (and where not), could drive category strategy.…”