The Future of Category Management

An independent research programme examining how Category must evolve as a commercial leadership discipline as commercial decision-making becomes more complex, more distributed and more technology-enabled.
This work sits at the heart of Optima, shaping our perspective on how Category, commercial decision-making and leadership will need to evolve over the next decade.
At its core, the research asks how organisations will need to design and govern commercial decisions if Category is to play a genuine leadership role.

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Why this research exists
​Many organisations are still applying Category Management models designed for a simpler commercial world.
Yet today’s reality is very different:

• Decisions are fragmented across functions and forums
• Insight and data volumes are growing faster than clarity about what to decide and who owns the call
• Commercial teams are under pressure to balance short-term delivery with long-term value
• Automation and AI are beginning to reshape decision rights, speed and expectations of what “good” looks like

This research explores what is changing, why it is changing, and what this means in practice for Category, Commercial Strategy and leadership teams.

Scope and contributors
​The programme has brought together a broad and senior set of perspectives, including:

• Senior leaders across Category, Commercial and Insight, from Controller to C-suite
• Supplier perspectives spanning SME challengers to top-10 FMCG organisations
• Retailer input, including Senior Buyers and central commercial functions
• Data, technology and AI experts shaping the next generation of commercial tools and decision systems
• Contributions from across the UK, US, DACH, Nordics and ANZ

The response to the quantitative survey has been strong, establishing clear patterns and points of alignment. This has been complemented by an in-depth qualitative phase, adding context, challenge and nuance — particularly from retailer and senior leadership perspectives.
This combination allows us to see where suppliers and retailers broadly agree, where they diverge, and where organisational design gets in the way of better decisions.

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Current status

The research is currently in the synthesis phase.
We are stress-testing and refining themes, integrating quantitative and qualitative insight into a clear, evidence-led view of how Category and commercial decision-making is evolving — and what organisations will need to do differently going forward.
The aim is not to predict the future, but to provide leaders with a clear frame for making better decisions as conditions change.

​A summary of findings will be shared first with contributors by the end of January, before being made more widely available.  To see results as soon as they are published we'd welcome you to subscribe to our newsletter on Substack by clicking the link below:

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How this connects to Optima’s work

This research directly informs:

• Our advisory work with senior commercial teams
• The design and evolution of our training programmes
• Our view of how Category must evolve as a leadership discipline

In practical terms, it exists to support better commercial decisions and more effective operating models — not to produce academic commentary.
Further outputs from this research will be shared over the coming months as synthesis is completed.