What You Need To Know About Category Management

Category management is a merchandising system that can maximize product sales from your Planet Antares vending machines by grouping products into similar consumer taste preferences and product characteristics. It will increase your sales and profits by providing the customers of your vending machines with the products that they want, when they want them. Increased variety will result in grater consumer demand and increased sales as more consumers find the products that they want.

Category management is easy to implement, however it requires changes in your merchandising system and an organizational commitment to make it work. It increases your bottom line by increasing sales from better merchandising. Having all the basic product categories within every vending machine is the best way to maximize machine revenue.

Increase in bottom line
As a result of better merchandising, sales in your Planet Antares vending business will see an increase. The demand of your customers will be met by full category representation. By selling only the top selling products, the sales per spiral will increase. There will be a significant increase in vending sales which will result in increased total snack and beverage profits.

Category management in your Planet Antares vending business will bring about reduced inventory investment. Here, menu based purchasing will reduce the inventory and handling costs of additional, unnecessary stock keeping units (SKU’s). The purchasing efficiency will also see an increase. Reduced inventory investment is brought about by order levels being closely matched to sales.

There will also be an improvement in route and warehouse efficiency. You will find that route merchandising and product selection is simpler and more efficient. Fewer SKU’s and lower inventory levels result in substantial reduction in ware house labor.

The evolution of category management in vending is one of the most important changes taking place. The vending industry is following a pattern that has been set by supermarkets, drug stores and convenience stores. Category management system has emerged as a standard operating procedure. There are a number of benefits that come with category management, the most important being that it gives creative power to the vending operator.

When category management becomes a standard practice in your Planet Antares vending business, the relationship between you and product manufacturers will have to change. Coordination with product manufacturers is important for the smooth running of your vending business. With this system in your vending business, operators will take a lead role in a proactive rather than reactive role in marketing and merchandising. They will set goals for the product suppliers to meet, rather than the other way round.