Assortment Management

Many retailers (especially grocery stores) have found category management to be a great technique for improving sales productivity within merchandise categories. It has also changed the way that vendors and retailers communicate with one another. In a paper, answer all of the following questions:

1. What benefit would retailers gain from using category management to guide their decisions with merchandise planning?
2. How can retailers utilize the vendor's knowledge of the merchandise categories that it sells to make better merchandising choices? Explain your answer.
3. What are some reasons that consumers become dissatisfied with a retailer's merchandise selection? What can retailers do to avoid these pitfalls?