• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, June 21, 2011

While thinking of brands in terms of category management continues to be the status quo for marketers, retailers are kind of over it, a new study finds. Instead, stores are looking for smarter ways to drive sales by leveraging consumer insights, with Kroger, Walmart and Target earning the highest marks for their shopper-centric tactics.

So although 81% of marketers say the idea of category management is either very or extremely important, according to Kantar Retail's 2011 Category Leadership Benchmarking Study, only 72% of retailers agree, down from 78% two years ago. Mass stores and convenience retailers are even less likely to rate category management as important, and some stores executives included in the study voiced growing concerns over low ROI.

"In the past, both retailers and manufacturers used to be more focused on the tactics of category management, like assortments and pricing and promotion," Ginny Valkenburgh, SVP/Kantar Retail, based in Wilton, Conn., tells Marketing Daily. "But now, retailers are looking through a very different lens. They are asking many more questions about what people want. What are shoppers looking for? What occasion is a food for? Can they find the products they want in the store? Why did they choose this store, and not another?"