Survey Says: Knowledge of Category Management Is High and Needs are Unique Among Bev-Al Tiers and Channels

We conducted a survey in September to determine the prevalence of the practice of Category Management throughout the beverage alcohol Industry. We are happy to report that we had 200 respondents from across all tiers and channels! Congrats to Nanette S. and Patrick C. for winning an Amazon gift card in a drawing of participants who provided contact information.

We were pleasantly surprised that 77.6 percent of respondents were familiar with Category Management. Another 14.5 percent had heard of the concept and wanted to know more. What a great position to be in as we seek to find the growth pockets for our markets. More effectively matching the consumers with the beverages they seek is a win for us all.

The challenges we are trying to solve vary based on where we are in the distribution system. For off-premise retailers, 44.7 percent say they are dealing with too much inventory. Among on-premise operators, 51.7 percent say decreasing sales is their biggest concern. Wholesalers mention that their customer base shrinking is their top challenge (35.9 percent). Changing consumer preferences is top of mind for Suppliers at 69 percent. For other vendors, 79 percent commented that they are facing increasing market competition.

Is there a way we can all collaborate in a symbiotic way to address these challenges? At the Beverage Information Group, we think so. Understanding and addressing our pain points and those of our partners will be a good start. How? You guessed it – Category Management – by building an Insight Library and determining all our roles in the process.

Stay tuned to more on this subject over the coming months on all our platforms. If you would like a copy of the complete survey results or are interested in the responses for one or more channels or tiers, please request them here [INSERT LINK: https://info.epgacceleration.com/category-management-complimentary-results].

If you would like to join our ACTIVATE Category Workgroup, which is working on a “Getting Started Category Management Guide” to debut June 2027 at Beverage Industry Week, please reach out to me directly.

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