Gestión por categorías

A 90-minute, 4-round intermediate Express simulation for Spanish vocational training (Formacion Profesional, grado superior), module 0927 Gestion de productos y promociones en el punto de venta of the Tecnico Superior en Gestion de Ventas y Espacios Comerciales.

You are Alba Gorris, the new category analyst of Supermercados Bellus S.L., a fictional chain of 38 neighbourhood supermarkets in Valencia and Castellon, and you manage its breakfast and biscuits category (biscuits, cereals, cocoa drinks, coffee and packaged pastries) for the category year that starts in June 2027.

Round by round you decide two things: in January the size of the range (420 items as now, 340, 260 or 520) and the criterion for what stays (units sold, margin, contribution and role in the basket, or what suppliers pay); in February the shelf metres of each family (equal, by sales, by margin and days of stock, or the leading manufacturer's planogram) and how the shelf is organised (by brand, by what the customer looks for, by price, or highest margin at eye level); in March the promotion calendar (every week, every four weeks, the eight peak weeks or none) and the depth of the discount; and in April what is promoted and how the reduction is announced.

The model works with expected values, and at each decision point the category year is projected again with the decisions taken so far and the chain's usual practice for the rest.

Each round is scored on category sales, margin per shelf metre, stock turns and the net incremental sales the promotions bring once cannibalisation, stocking up and lost customers are taken off; selling food below its purchase price, or crossing out a previous price that was never charged, caps the score. The lesson: a promotion that cannibalises the category only moves sales from one place to another.

Spanish with English.

An intermediate simulation for participants who already know the core concepts of the subject, designed for master's and MBA programmes.